Talking to Rutendo Shadaya: the teen author

+ (pic: Rutendo Shadaya with her two books at South Waikato Library, New Zealand)

Today I interview an amazing author, Rutendo Shadaya. Born in 2008, Rutendo is a teen New Zealand/Zimbabwean author. Her writing journey began at the incredible age of nine! At that very tender age, she decided to write a book as a birthday present for her best friend, Sophie Thompson. "My writing journey started because I needed a birthday present for my friend, and I thought, 'She likes reading, I am going to write her a book," Rutendo says.

This is how Rutendo came to write Rachel and the Enchanted Forest, which was published in October 2020 when she was 12, effectively making her a child-writer.

This moving novel is about Rachel, Darling and May who find a magical forest called The Enchanted Forest. Rachel discovers that her grandma knows about the forest and that she was one of the founders of the Enchanted Forest. Rachel, May and Darling meet various elves in the forest. One of the elves gave Rachel the necklace that belonged to her grandma. However, another elf was not happy to see Rachel with the necklace. The elf planned to steal the necklace during the hoverboard race. This book explains how the elves helped Rachel get the necklace back.

Rutendo’s second book, which appeared a couple of years later, in July 2022, is called Rachel and The Chevene Pirates. In this longer novel, Rachel and the enchanted Gang go on a mission to recover stolen jewels. On the mission, they face the dangerous Chevene pirates.

+Rutendo Shadaya's two books are available through Amazon.

Rutendo Shadaya says that she enjoys watching and playing tennis, netball, and soccer. In her free time, Rutendo reads books, listens to music and hangs out with friends.

 

Rutendo Shadaya’s parents migrated from Zimbabwe.

 

THE INTERVIEW:

Memory Chirere: You say that what inspired your first book, when you were 9, was the need to find a present for your friend, Sophie Thompson. Who is Sophie Thompson and where is she right now?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: Sophie Thompson is my best friend. We have been good friends for over 10 years. We live in the same town in New Zealand. Sophie has been the one friend, whom I can rely on during difficult times of my life.

 

Memory Chirere:  You were only 9 when you wrote your first book…

 

Rutendo Shadaya: I am considerate when buying birthday presents for close friends. When it came to Sophie’s birthday, I knew she and her friends had this book club. It was a club where they would share stories that they had written over the past week. Sophie was also a massive bookworm at the time, and I thought; “Why not surprise Sophie with a book written by me”. I didn’t like writing at the time because it was one of my weaker subjects. But that didn’t stop me, and it pushed me further to complete it.

 

Memory Chirere: What are the challenges and joys of writing a book when you are nine?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: I didn’t struggle. I didn’t fight much with the writing process, as my brain kept on flowing… with ideas of inspiration. My creativity and determination kept me going with writing. It is a hobby. I spend time writing whenever I am free. One thing, which was a bit difficult, was probably coming up with made-up names of the characters because when readers see them they have to stick in their heads, not something forgettable.

 

Memory Chirere: Why are you keen on tales of adventure?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: I like to write something that I could also love to read. Adventure and fantasy books are my favourite type of books to read. I love the thrill and roller-coaster of such stories.

 

Memory Chirere: What specific titles were you reading at the time and how are they related to your first book?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: Back then, I was reading books like The Land of Stories, David Walliams and Thea Stilon books. These books explore the genres of fantasy and adventure, and I adapt the genres into my book.

Memory Chirere: You have had your childhood in New Zealand. Can you describe your childhood in greater detail?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: My childhood has been great, but I have struggled a bit when it comes to making friends. There weren’t many Africans where I lived, or attended school, so the small community were like the only community representing us Africans in the town, my family lived. There was obviously racism expressed towards me, and my brother which sucks and is something terrible to encounter for anyone. Apart from that, New Zealand offers many opportunities which I am grateful for. Living in a country so advanced for its size is such a privilege. The people here can see the potential in you and help you reach your goals. These people and friends have helped me achieve many milestones at this young age.

 

Memory Chirere: Have you ever had the opportunity to listen to our own African/Shona folk tales or read them?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: No, not really. I haven’t had the opportunity to read Shona folk tales but I would love to do some time.

 

Memory Chirere: I know that you often visit Zimbabwe with your parents. Can you comment particularly about your experience of life, people and places in Zimbabwe, if put against your experiences in New Zealand.

 

Rutendo Shadaya: Last December (2023), my family and I visited Zimbabwe. It was the first time in 10 years since me and my brother last visited. The cost of travelling is quite expensive, especially during December. I didn’t struggle much with cultural norms because my family often meets up with fellow Zimbabwe families or communities here in New Zealand. Communicating, was a little bit difficult when visiting Kumusha, as my Shona isn’t the best. When it comes to Shona, I can speak basic conversations and greetings at best, but I can understand mostly everything. Apart from economic differences, I don’t think Zimbabwe and New Zealand are much different. The people in both New Zealand and Zimbabwe are generally family oriented. Seeing Victoria Falls, Chinhoyi Caves and Kumusha’s scenery were my highlights of the beauty of Zimbabwe.

 

Memory Chirere: Your first book, Rachel and the Enchanted Forest, is about elves. An elf is a spirit of any kind, creature, usually in tiny human form. The notable characteristics of elves were mischief and volatility. They were believed at various times and in various regions to cause diseases in humans and cattle. Any special reason why you often write about elves?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: The idea, of elves, came during a TV show I was watching while writing the first book. I wanted the people that Rachel met, to be magical creatures. When thinking of creatures, elves were the first thing I thought of. My understanding and thoughts about elves were more of the fantasy magical concept and not much of the historical concept.

 

Memory Chirere: How close is this book to what you wanted say?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: This book, was pretty close to what I had in the first draft. The plot and premise remained the same. There has obviously, been a lot of trimming and editing done to make sure it is perfect and readable. The parts, I enjoyed and found easier to write were action chapters because I have visualized and imagined characters in the moment. The ending was also simple to write as when starting to write up the book, I’ve always had an idea of an ending. The challenging parts were writing the beginning like Chapter 1 because that’s the section where you need to hook readers in, especially new readers.

 

Memory Chirere: You work with the character Rachel in the two books. How close is Rachel to Rutendo Shadaya, the writer herself?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: Rachel and I have similar characteristics but I would say we are quite different. For example, I have only ridden a horse twice in my life, and for Rachel, that’s her passion. Rachel is more ambitious and into nature than me. Some things are similar like we are both the eldest child in the family and are keen to try something new. Overall, I would say, Rachel has some aspects of my personality but is quite different to me.

 

 

Memory Chirere: This is a self-published book. How are you doing for the sales and marketing?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: Sales and Marketing has always been a struggle with my journey of self-publishing. I believe that I have done an excellent job, with marketing and sales as self-publishing is tough because most authors don’t make a profit. Marketing is all to do with putting yourself out there and I have excelled in that area. Sales is a tricky area as a lot of research needs to be done to ensure sales. With the help of some courses and advice, I have adapted those skills in my day-to-day life. But, since I have now entered my senior years of high school in New Zealand, it has been extremely difficult to strike a balance. To address this challenge, I am trying to branch my writing out onto different platforms to help grow my audience. Hopefully, I will have a routine or schedule to balance school.

 

Memory Chirere: In the second novel, which is about Rachel and the Pirates, one finds girls being trained by grandmothers on the art of magic. May you say more about your excitement with magic and adventure?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: Like I stated earlier, I was a bookworm and loved reading fantasy books. Magic is a common thing featured in fantasy books, and I always wished I had some magical powers. Imagine, if you could fly? That would be instantly another way of transport. The thoughts of magical powers have always fascinated my mind.

 

Memory Chirere: You often write about the forest. What does the forest stand for in your mind?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: New Zealand, has a lot of forests and bushes all over the country. Living in a country full of forestry may have sparked an idea of the setting being in a forest. A forest stands for a place full of trees, bushes, flowers and all types of animals and it’s a beauty once you explore the forest. Those are my thoughts and personal definition of the forest.

 

Memory Chirere: You write about girls and grandmothers confronting the forests and pirates. What is your view of women in a world that is becoming more and more dangerous?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: I believe that women are such strong beings and are capable of doing many things. I know in some areas of the world, that traditional gender roles are still dominant but I feel like those areas need to give young girls a chance because they are very capable of achieving the same things as boys. Girls deserve an education too and, sadly the poor circumstances are limiting them. I hope I could somewhat inspire girls who are living tough conditions, with my story and books.

 

Memory Chirere: How do you budget your time between your schoolwork and writing?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: I write usually on the weekends or the holidays because that’s when I have spare time. If my schoolwork isn’t packed, I tend to write some stories or poems over the school week. Currently, I am trying out new routines to strike the perfect balance.

 

Memory Chirere: How do your parents and sibling relate with you and your work?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: My parents and brother are not much of readers nor writers, however they support my work and love to see my writing progress.

 

Memory Chirere: Any words of advice to young writers like you?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: “Never let age or your background define you”. Take my quote to heart, when I say this because no matter where you come from anything is possible if you put your mind to it. I live in a small town, and people viewed my goal as impossible but I proved them wrong because I didn’t like my age or background to define me. When you ever thinking about giving up on a piece of writing just remember and imagine yourself with the end product. Like, imagine seeing your piece in a magazine or your own book.  

 

Memory Chirere: What are your future plans in writing?

 

Rutendo Shadaya: Firstly, I want to complete this series of Rachel. I am currently in the works on the third book and it will be released in November. I hope to complete the series before I turn 21. After the series, I would take a bit of a hiatus because I will be at university. At some point I hope, to have the opportunity to try out traditional publishing.

Memory Chirere: Thank you, Rutendo. Wishing you all the best with your writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ericah Gwetai returns with intriguing stories about love and war

 

Title: is this Love?

Author: Ericah Gwetai

Published: 2022, (revised edition; 2023) in Mutare, Zimbabwe

Isbn: 978-1-77932-275-4

Ean: 9781779312754

103 pages

 

(Book review by Memory Chirere)

It is very easy to become absorbed in Ericah Gwetai’s collection of eleven short-short stories called is this Love? Gwetai creates effortless and memorable ‘situations’ for her new stories.

She uses a very simple language. As you read, you may forget that you are dealing with a book. It is as if you are listening to stories being told gradually by the fireside by a cunning old woman. The author becomes a familiar storyteller from next door. For me, Gwetai’s style comes very close to Barbra Kimenye’s, especially the stories in Kalasanda and Kalasanda Revisited.

Just picture this situation: A man is dancing gracefully with his wife, Nyasha, on the dance floor at a birthday party. It is a great day. Then his wife’s earring falls. Another man dancing nearby picks it and gives it back to her. As they are dancing like that, suddenly her husband bites her on the ear and red blood splashes all over her blouse and onto the floor! There is commotion. Part of her ear is gone! Just like that.

People want to know why the husband has done this and he claims that he had been sexually aroused and was whispering something romantic into Nyasha’s ear when he accidentally bit off part of her ear.

But when they eventually get back home, he confesses to her that it was not an accident. He says, “That man who picked up your earring has a perfect physique. I saw you staring at him, and you were winking at each other. You deserve the punishment.”

They are invited yet to another party and as they are leaving for the party, the husband tells his wife, “You are dressed to kill,” and she thanks him. After the party, on their way home, he says to her, “When we stopped at the shops to buy some drinks, I saw you waving at a man who was leaning against a pillar…He smiled, and you smiled back.” All of a sudden, the husband pushes his wife out of the moving car…and what she decides to do afterwards is the least expected thing...

Gwetai’s situations leave you stuck and wanting to pursue the story further. In one story, after a traffic accident, a baby clings to a traffic policewoman with all its strength and totally refuses to be handed over to its mother who has now recuperated. The crowd is shocked. Ironically, the mother is already busy toying with her cellular phone!

Gwetai’s women in these stories are usually very well dressed and daring too. In one of these stories, a young woman almost harms herself because her parents are prohibiting her from marrying a polygamous man and become wife number eleven! She vows never to get married to any other man. Eventually she marries the beloved polygamous man after staying single for three full years. Netsai just loves her polygamist! You rush through the story with a sense of trepidation. Why does she want to be wife number eleven? Why? The story opens wider and wider like a wildflower.

Ericah Gwetai, who is the late writer Yvonne Vera’s mother, is an intriguing story herself. The cover of this colourful book is from her personal photograph from way back in 1973. Ericah is standing in the sun near a shrub. She is holding her chin, smiling, gawking at a young Lambert Gwetai, the man who eventually marries her. Lambert is holding a straw hat, rather delicately, maybe turning it round and round, probably saying something romantic to Ericah. They are standing on what looks like a well-trodden village path. Ericah is dressed to kill. Presumably they are newly in love. Ericah said to me, “We were both teaching at the same school called Kapane. It is in Tsholotsho district. We were excited that we were getting married that year and we did.” Ericah also appears with Lambert on the cover of her other book, Where Were You?

Ericah Gwetai has written a very enlightening biography on Yvonne Vera. It is called ‘Petal thoughts: Yvonne Vera: A Biography.’ It was published in 2008.  Imagine that you are a world-renowned writer from Africa and after your death; your mother does not only publish her own creative books but goes on to write your biography! That could be a first in African literature! Four years later in 2012, Ericah Gwetai published her own novel called Embracing the Cactus.

However, readers must be warned that although Ericah Gwetai is mother to the late great writer, Yvonne Vera, she is her own woman. Here you do not find Yvonne’s intense prose poetry but a deeper and more amazing understanding of African cultural intricacies, rendered in a far simpler and unaffected prose. Her very unpredictable plots constitute the Ericah Gwetai signature. Her other books are More Than a woman and The Other Side.

 

 

 

 

 

The Return of Barbara Makhalisa...Gqabula!

 

Title: Gqabula!

Author: Barbara Makhalisa

Publisher: Radiant Publishing Company

Year of Publication: 2024

Number of Pages: 196

Isbn:9781779338082

(Reviewed by Lickel Ndebele)

Veteran Zimbabwean novelist, Barbara C. Makhalisa, has a new novel which is a thought-provoking masterpiece. In Gqabula, Makhalisa’s masterful command of the Ndebele language is on full display, as she weaves a tapestry that is both rich and eye-catching. Through a unique style and gripping plot, the author creates a truly unforgettable reading experience.

Phindani Nhliziyo, studying at a university in the UK, receives the devastating news from home in Zimbabwe that her father has died a sudden death due to the COVID pandemic. She finds it difficult to accept the news. She does not have money to come home for the burial. This saddens her to the foundation of her being. She starts waiting for the pictures and videos of his father’s burial. The author stresses that “Kubuhlungu ukungabikhona kungcwatshwa umzali” (It is painful to be absent in the burial of your parent).

After two days of mourning, Phindani receives the terrible news that her mother has also passed away! She is devastated. Her university friends come to console her, but all is in vain because she is so much distressed. Her male friend, one Thamsanqa, ends up offering her wine to console her.  She drinks too much wine, and she gets to be more than drunk.  Thamsanqa, who has always had secret and unbearable admiration for Phindani, has sex with her when she is totally unconscious. She does not know that Thamsanqa has impregnated her too! This is the blind spot which drives this story.

And that is the catch.

Phindani soon travels home for her mother’s burial. She is distressed in such a way that her past depression comes back. Before going to study at UK she had actually been involved in a human trafficking scandal in which she and her friends had been tricked through a scholarship scam. They were transported to Dubai but when they got there, things changed. They were abused and raped. Although she had escaped, the scandal disturbed Phindani’s mind and that is when her constant depression started.

Back home, neighbours and villagers misinterpret Phindani’s depression and consider her as a lunatic. MaNsimbi, one of the neighbours, says “uhlanya loluyana luyahlala luluhlupho lunjalo” (That lunatic person will always be problematic). Through MaDube, one of the villagers who seem to understand issues of depression, the author expertly teaches us that depression is like other health conditions such as diabetes, high Blood Pressure and it should be treated as such without any exaggeration. The rise of suicide cases in Zimbabwe reveals that depression is a reality. The poor economic conditions in the country expose many citizens to depression but very few people understand the whole facts about this terrible condition.

Phindani slowly recovers at home with the help of doctors.  Thamsanqa proposes love to Phindani over the phone from the UK. He tells her how much he loves her. Phindani loves him too, but she wants to take her time before she could confess her love. However, during one of her visits to the Doctor, Phindani receives the shocking news that she is pregnant!

She denies it.

As far as she is concerned, the last time she slept with a man is when she was raped in Dubai, some time ago. She thinks the doctor is being mischievous or something. She consults another doctor, and the report remains the same.

She is in a state of confusion. Her depression gets worse, and she feels her dreams of going back to university in a few days are shattered.  She makes a prayer where she pours out her heart to her God thus: “Nkosi, angikuzwisisi lokhu engikutshelwe ngudokotela. Wena uyangazi Nkosi. Ngimsulwa. Kambe sengihlanya na njengoba bevele behlala besithi ezami sezithanca. Nguwe owaziyo Nkosi” (Lord, I do not understand what the doctor has told me. You know me, Lord. I am innocent. Perhaps I am now a lunatic as they always say. You are the one who knows Lord). Through the prayer (Psychological realism), the author helps the reader to explore the mental state or inner lives of the characters.

Thamsanqa assures Phindani that he is ready to be the father of her child. How will the truth of the sex incident come out? You read on with great expectations. Will Phindani be happy again? The story becomes complicated when Phindani delivers an albino baby who is stolen in Bulawayo before they are discharged from the hospital. The kidnappers have planned that the child will be sold to those who need albinos for ritual purposes. Many albinos in African societies live in fear of this.

The novel continues with these twists and turns, and you will fail to put it down. The secrets and the misfortunes compete against each other, but you know that the veteran author is at work here. Warning: Barbara Makhalisa is one of the earliest women writers of Zimbabwe… She will harangue you with plots and counterplots.

Written in the vibrant and catchy Ndebele language, the novel helps to navigate through the diverse forces of life in Zimbabwe and perhaps in Africa. Makhalisa demonstrates a unique ability to navigate the tapestry and intricacies of human experiences, the DNA tests and other experiences. You tremble with the novel in your hands. Some experiences are breath-taking, and some are eye opening.

The writer uses psychological realism, and stream of consciousness techniques which effectively propel the plot, explain the story and help the reader to explore the mental state or inner lives of the characters. This helps the reader to explore the philosophical implications of human existence.

The characters in this book are meticulously crafted, with nuanced personalities that leap off the page and into real life. They could be people you know or meet on the street, with all the complexity and intrigue that comes with being human. 

As a mirror of the society, the writer’s vivid descriptions of the current economic hardships and their consequences are both poignant and unflinching, offering a stark and unromanticized view of the past and present struggles faced by the Ndebele/Zimbabwean people. The issue of Gukurahundi is subtly brought in but that Gukurahundi had devastating effects on the people of Matabeleland is made clear. In the novel, teachers are conducting extra lessons in their houses in order to earn a living. This has become the order of the day in real life. The meagre salaries that most civil servants are earning cannot sustain families. Water shortages in Bulawayo have also become the order of the day. The writer depicts this very well together with the issue of load shedding which has affected many businesses. The writer also depicts that poverty in the country has fueled family disintegration as some members have opted to go for what they think are greener pastures in the diaspora. Thamsanqa is a university student, but he does various jobs outside the University in order to make ends meet. In times of depression, family members are not there to give you comfort.  Friends become like the only available close family members, but this has its consequences. 

The title of the book, Gqabula! is based on the miraculous hope which can break all shackles. This book is a triumph, and I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a thought-provoking and deeply moving reading experience.

This book is an invaluable resource for those studying Ndebele literature at high school or University and to anyone who seeks to understand Ndebele people’s lived experiences. The book provides valuable insights on Ndebele or Zimbabwean people’s lived experiences as a whole. Barbara Makhalisa is a teacher by training, Ndebele translator, novelist, editor and publisher, one of the earliest female writers published in Zimbabwe. She is the author of many books written in Ndebele, as well as in English, of which some have been used as school textbooks.

The book reviewer, Dr Lickel Ndebele, is a Lecturer in the Department of Languages Literature and Culture, University of Zimbabwe where she teaches and researches in Ndebele Literature and Language.

+If want to purchase the book, you can consult info@bcmnliterarytrust.org or Barbara Makhalisa on 0772231304.

 

 

 

 

 

Onai Mushava dissects Andrew Chatora's latest novel

 

Onai Mushava dissects Andrew Chatora’s latest novel:

Andrew Chatora’s 2023 novel, Harare Voices and Beyond, interrogates land, race and nationhood in Zimbabwe.  Literary journalist Onai Mushava picks apart the allegorical layers of the book.

Andrew Chatora is a storyteller who hides his stakes in plain sight. The UK-based Zimbabwean novelist gives away the combustibles of his story at the earliest convenience but only names them as they go off in the endgame. Chatora’s books end with a twisted insight that questions our sense of detail and reflows what was already in our face from the beginning.

In Chatora’s debut novella of 2021, Diaspora Dreams, which set tongues wagging, we cycle back from the kicker to make sense of the revelation, somehow hinted all along, that the narrator is writing from a mental asylum. However, literary critic Tariro Ndoro insightfully characterizes Chatora’s 2023 crime novel, Harare Voices and Beyond, as a why-dunnit rather than a who-dunnit.

The novel’s narrator, Rhy Williams, all but confesses to murder in the beginning: “There is no way the courts will let us off for the murder of my brother, Julian – Mother’s son gone rogue.” Going on, we suppose the narrator will now psychoanalyze a family saga and walk us through Harare’s mean streets. While Rhy’s opening confession holds up in the final analysis, the big reveal is that he was not so much the accessory to his mother’s murder of Julian; she was, in fact, his unwitting accessory in the murder. Just like the evil genius, Chatora, to switch the game from the unshuffled card of his deck.

Harare Voices and Beyond is remarkable as a black writer’s handling of Zimbabwe’s land reform from a white perspective. It is a counterintuitive gambit literary critic Memory Chirere associates with Chatora by now. After all, the Mutare-born writer’s first book is unusually about an African man who goes to Britain to teach English to the English. In Harare Voices and Beyond, the land resettlement programme extends, by default, into the questions of race and nationhood in Zimbabwe. With black and white writers usually playing their part to expectation, it is a rare writer who will imagine what it is to be on the other side.  Different sections of Zimbabwe come together uneasily as the book further juxtaposes drug abuse, usually associated with poor urban communities, with the elite underworld of organized crime. For a book packed with as many questions, Chatora wedges his unlikely nation with layers of suspense approaching Dostoyevskyan mindfuck.

Chatora’s main achievement in this novel, I think, is not his journalistic  faithfulness to the faultlines of Zimbabwe’s nation-building. The novel can be better appreciated as an allegorical deconstruction of nation as such. The story follows the narrator’s mother, Mrs. Doris Williams, watching helplessly as the physical and psychological violence of the fast-track resettlement programme claims the lives of her husband, her daughter-in-law and finally her son, Julian. The eternally intoxicated Julian overreaches himself when he sets his mother’s house on fire. Mother fatally knives son in self-defense and falls under the charge of her eldest son who must instruct her in hiding the crime and keep her going. As a mother, Mrs. Williams is the symbol of the nation; as the killer of her rogue son, she embodies the power of life and death a nation administers in the name of justice.

In this case, she is in league with her dutiful firstborn son who could do no wrong. Only, we learn in the end, that narrator firstborn, Rhy, is, in fact, masterminding, sponsoring and profiting from the drug and sex rings Julian finally falls prey to so that he is, by moral judgement, his brother’s killer.

“Doris now has longstanding insomnia,” we are told in the opening passage. As we learn from Fight Club, “When you have insomnia, you’re neither really asleep, and you’re never really awake. With insomnia nothing is real.” Apart from insomnia, Mrs. Williams is “now on chronic restorative medication.” In the Persian classic, Soraya in a Comma, the comatose girl waited on by a cynically detached diaspora is a figure of the country Iran.

Chatora’s figure of Zimbabwe, Doris Williams, is not just a black widow type but is herself undead: not quite dead but then not quite living!

Chatora is deconstructing the notion of nation itself. There is a part of Zimbabwe that still exists and a part of Zimbabwe that does not quite exists. On yet another scale, distributive maybe, Zimbabwe exists for part of the population but not the rest. The idea of patriotism that is constantly rammed down one’s throat with ideology schools, propaganda curricular from primary to tertiary education, commandeered churches, arts, media, civil service and so on for narrow partisan designs in the name of nation building merely avoids the question: Who is Zimbabwe still working for and who is Zimbabwe no longer working for?

In the family allegory, the dutiful firstborn and the rogue lastborn personify state capture and ideological whiplash, by turn, in their contrasting relationship with their mother. To translate this to an actual lived picture of everyday Zimbabwe, the party in power is represented in office by alleged drug dealers, alleged bankrollers of forex trade, alleged gold mafia, alleged untouchables whom the criminal justice system simply doesn’t exist for. Like the dutiful son, Rhy, beating around rogue Julian, these are also the people preaching patriotism and propriety on television and ideological cost centers every day.

On the other hand, we have the Julian, traumatized and intoxicated all the time. Here is a local exile for whom a mother-son relationship simply does not exist. He almost never calls her mother; only Doris. These are local exiles for whom the nation-citizen relationship  simply does not exist, just as narratives of belonging no longer translate to actual lived inclusion. These are poor Zimbabweans, young Zimbabweans throwing away their lives to drug abuse, disenchanted Zimbabweans un-Zimbabweanizing themselves at home and abroad, chameleon Zimbabweans changing all the time just to avoid change – changing the material of their laughter, changing party colors, changing lines of petty crime and small-time corruption and so on just to avoid addressing the question of fixing their dysfunctional relationship to Zimbabwe.

The undead mother-figure as she walks through Chatora’s novel calls to mind Marita in Chenjerai Hove’s Bones.

If Marita and Doris are heroines in the respective novels, then they are no superwomen. The Zimbabwean nation waits on a revolution to come, when the bones of Nehanda will awaken to break all manner of chains, colonial, postcolonial and patriarchal. But the revolution conceived by Hove and Chatora for women constrained by “egregious disempowerment, exploitation and violence by colonial and postcolonial masculinities” as Kizito Muchemwa puts it in his preface to the Weaver Press edition of Bones, is not a revolution marshalled comic-book style by a superwoman from someplace. It is the revolution of the broken, pictured by Hove as the revolution of “the black bird with broken wings.”

In deconstructing the national mythology embodied by Nehanda, historian Ruramisai Charumbira (2008) revisits two Nehanda traditions, “Musoro waNehanda” (the head of Nehanda) and Makumbo aNehanda” (the legs of Nehanda). From here, it’s one step to imagining a Freudian twist where the head represents the sublime tradition of Nehanda, whereas the legs represent the profane tradition of Nehanda. Not a compartmentalization of spirit and sex given that Nehanda dually represents fertility and memory. On the sublime level, the national matriarch is embodied among the living by celibate guilds, rainmakers, royal oracles and freedom fighters. But there is a profane and unofficial level, freely interpreted here from Charumbira’s book, where both Nehandas are abused, outnumbered and condemned in the courts of men. Nyamhita is raped by her brother while Charwe is denied by her male co-accused, Kaguvi, and put to death by a colonial and patriarchal court.

The connection made by Muchemwa between Hove’s Bones and the prophesied awakening of Nehanda’s bones is not immediately obvious. Hove and Chatora’s matriarchs come across in vegetative, scatological and traumatic trappings. In her disembodiment, Nehanda’s head is spirit to come while her legs are the censored unconscious. A detour through Imagining a Nation, where Charumbira picks apart grand national mythology and imagines Nyamhita and Charwe outside their superhero capes, helps bring the dream of freedom down to earth, within the reach of Hove and Chatora’s “little women.” A solution cannot be better that its subjects, just as an intellectual cannot be better than her people. So, we start thinking about Zimbabwe beginning with the damaged life, with the abused, the jaded, the dismissed and the forgotten. Until they are the answer, freedom is not the question.

Besides Doris being white, a demographic rarely ever associated  with emancipatory ambition outside Chatora’s novel, she officiates in the bloody stakes of a sibling conflict. She is closer, in this sense, to Nyamhita’s mother presiding over her son’s rape of her daughter to fulfill the fertility tradition of ritual incest. In “BLOOD.” the opening track for Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer-winning album, DAMN. the narrator goes up to help a visually impaired woman who is apparently in search of a lost object on the sidewalk. “It seems to me that you have lost something, and I wanna help you find it,” the narrator accosts the woman. “Oh yes; you have lost something. You have lost your life!” the woman responds as her gun goes off. In this allegory, we are confronted with a figure of justice, a woman who must embody the saying that justice is blind. While the metaphor is meant to represent impartiality, in the case of Kendrick’s encounter, it represents failure to look into the nuances of the album’s most repeated refrain, “Is it wickedness or is it weakness?” Going back to the question of what is wrong with Mrs. Williams’ family, what is wrong with Zimbabwe as a nation and as a purveyor of justice, we find that Zimbabwe and her kind of justice kills the weak and pampers the wicked.

Chatora was this year’s silver recipient of the Anthem Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, held in New York, for his 2023 novel, Harare Voices and Beyond.  “Fellow creatives, together we can keep the momentum, reflect the iniquities of our societies! Yes, we can!” he said in his filmed acceptance speech.

Andrew Chatora is a prolific Zimbabwean novelist noted for his counterintuitive approaches to diversity politics. He has written Diaspora Dreams (2021), Where the Heart Is (2021), Harare Voices and Beyond (2023), Inside Harare Alcatraz and Other Stories (2024) and Born Here but Not in My Name (forthcoming). Amid polarizing reception, the UK-based writer continues to distinguish himself as a distinct voice in African diaspora literature and implacable champion of the marginalized. Chatora was recently awarded the 2024 Anthem Silver Award for Harare Voices and Beyond.

+This review was first published on Zimbabwe’s leading digital investigative reporting, breaking news and analysis platform: The News Hawks on 16^th April 2024. Onai Mushava is a writer and literary critic based in Harare, Zimbabwe

KwaChirere reads Mukondiwa's book on Mtukudzi

Oliver Mtukudzi and me

Author: Robert Mukondiwa (2021), Harare

Isbn: 978-1-77921-573-4, 220 pages

 

A book review by Memory Chirere

Robert Mukondiwa’s book; Oliver Mtukudzi and me: A Life in Song and Media, is a simple but very effective book for many reasons. Robert Mukondiwa is famed for his incisive feature articles, and it is evident throughout this book.

First, the book positions itself as a special insider’s story about Oliver Mtukudzi. This is a young man’s story about a man who is both his father and elder brother.

Books and journal articles on aspects of Oliver Mtukudzi’s music and life are fast increasing. We have a growing number of books specifically on the late Zimbabwean musician, Oliver Mtukudzi. There is one by Jennifer Kyker, another by Shepherd Mutamba and one multiple authored academic book edited by Ezra Chitando. Each of these books takes a specific slant. Robert Mukondiwa’s book comes across as laid back but equally penetrating.

Mukondiwa sets out on a particularly special trip; writing about “my Oliver…because that is how I would rather remember him…this, is after all my story…it is not the story of Oliver Mtukudzi. Or is it entirely mine…?”

You quickly sense that this could be a complicated book; now operating from under the water, now floating on the surface and sometimes having to become the water itself!

Mukondiwa creeps and crawls about, delicately linking his own life to the few but key moments he interacted closely with Oliver Mtukudzi - the man and the music. It is critical to realize that even Mukondiwa himself is not clear if the man and his music are always separate and that if they were separate, how and where would they confluence once more on their way home.

Not even once does Robert Mukondiwa claim that this story is watertight and that is a strength. He admits that he is a fan. This is one point that he repeats all the way. However, he realizes that he has to write this story as a journalist. That is one warning that he raises all the way. And when the time comes, Mukondiwa learns that he is family with his hero. The multiple identities of the author propel this story in the manner of a thriller. You investigate a man and then realise that your target is, in fact, a relative!

This is also a story about huge fallout between Mukondiwa and Oliver Mtukudzi after Robert Mukondiwa and his colleague, Garikai Mazara, write about what Mwendi Chibindi chronicles in her diary; her private relationship with Oliver Mtukudzi. The late Mwendi was one of Oliver Mtukudzi backing vocalists. The Sunday Mail and Robert Mukondiwa and Garikai Mazara, are however stopped in their tracks through a court injunction.

Mukondiwa is caught in between. How do you deal with a man whose unsavory story you wrote about last week? Do you say, “How was my story, mkoma?”

Mukondiwa and Mazara try to write truthfully about some of the misdeeds of a man whose music they love dearly. As soon as they do that, they are conflicted and do not find peace for a long time. They learn that their occupation has deep hazards.

Then one day Mukondiwa receives a thorough beating by strangers at one of Mtukudzi’s shows at the Hellenics Arena in Harare in what appears like an ordinary scuffle. However, it is not clear if it is Mtukudzi who unleashes these men on Mukondiwa. And if it is Mtukudzi, could it be for the Mwendi story? A sweet revenge? When Mukondiwa and Mutukudzi finally make up, months later, neither of them is keen to discuss this nasty incident. They also cannot talk about Mwendi's diary.

Robert Mukondiwa of The Sunday Mail, is able to come close to Mtukudzi once more at an Emerald Hill house when Mtukudzi is rehearsing with the band for an anti malarial campaign.

When Mukondiwa and his news crew get to the house, Mtukudzi and band are immediately apprehensive. They pause briefly and Mtukudzi himself asks, “Ndianiko uyu? Ndashaya.” (Who are you? I can’t recall your identity) Mtukudzi could be standoffish and vengeful when it suited him, Mukondiwa soon learns. 

Later on, as they walk about with Mtukudzi for an interview, Robert volunteers, “I am Nhari une ndoro. A Nzou too.” Then Mtukudzi warms up and says, “Uri munin’ina wangu.”

They also discover that Robert Mukondiwa’s father, the veteran journalist Pascal Mukondiwa, actually had a long standing relationship with Mtukudzi on account of their being fellow Nzous and that Robert’s mother is a childhood friend of Mtukudzi.

Mtukudzi admires his rival’s ability to write about the arts and his critical ear for good music. Soon Robert is being asked by Mtukudzi to listen to the demo tapes of his forthcoming albums to give the elder an honest opinion. Robert evaluates the elder’s work without flinching.

Mukondiwa goes: “The lyrical content of the (Tsivo) album was flawless, the beautiful korekore dialect and rhymes, which were his most distinct… then I talked about the rather sh- mastering. Someone had to do so!”

The youn man had done what was generally not allowed, pointing out Mtukudzi’s mistakes. But when he meets with Mtukudzi a few days after the damning review, Robert is terrified, unsure of the eldre’s reaction:

“ Robert.”

“Mukoma.”

“I read the story you wrote this past Sunday about the album. I am glad you have that ear for music. You see, I was not happy with the mixing and mastering. I pondered once whether to release it like that but it would be unfair on the fans so we had it redone. In fact, that is why it is not available on the local market…Now I know that you are a real mukorekore, not a fake one,” Mtukudzi said.”

One day Mtukudzi asks Robert to accompany him to Muzarabani to see Robert’s father who had retired from the media. This becomes a trip during which Robert had greatest insights into the life and music of Oliver Mtukudzi.

They are on the road trip, alongside someone called Uncle Nick. Mtukudzi talks about his youth and his battle with diabetes. They go to Muzarabani and on the way back they go through Mtukudzi’s rural home at Kasimbwi, Madziva. It is a very loaded trip. The longest stretch of continuous time any writer has ever dedicated to Mtukudzi.

Deep in the Muzarabani night, Mtukudzi, Uncle Nick and Robert’s brother travel even deeper into the Dande valley…Where were they going? The mystery continues!

The climax to this book is the death of Sam Mtukudzi and Owen Chimhare in a horrific road accident. This death shakes the foundation of the Mtukudzi family. Mtukudzi is inconsolable, sometimes walking about screaming and waving his hands. Then at some point he sings into the ear of his dead son. Sam’s mother is worse off. The lioness has lost its beloved cub.

The narrator is young and harmless, so it seems. He cannot compete against Mtukudzi. It is an unequal relationship. The narrator’s relationship with Mtukudzi allows him to go into many of Mtukudzi’s foibles without using the word foible. Robert does not rush to praise Mtukudzi for his immense talent. It simply comes out. He is the boy in the vicinity of a great man who happens to be a familiar man.

This is a story that touches on many other characters on the Zimbabwean entertainment scene; William Chikoto, Josh Hozheri, Garikai Mazara, J. Masters, Tongai Moyo, Debbie Metcalfe and others.

This story exits with Mtukudzi’s death and his colorful funeral. This effortless book is easy to read as it does not claim authority over anything. And yet it establishes the fact that Oliver Mtukudzi had a life beyond music. “There will be other stories, but this story has been about Oliver Mtukudzi and ME,” Robert Mukondiwa signs off.

+for sales contact: +263(0) 772888839

 

 

Rodney T Munemo reads Shamhu YeZera Renyu

                                                       ( Rodney T Munemo)

A day after I finished reading Memory Chirere’s latest collection of poems, Shamu YeZera Renyu, the book won a National Arts Merit Award, as best book of poems by a Zimbabwean in 2023! Amazing.

I find Memory Chirere’s poems in Shamhu YeZera Renyu to be therapeutic to the mind, with one poem particularly dwelling on the poetic charm of a child who is running after a bird in the sky while he is on the ground, in the morning, soon after; he is running to complete a chore, and after that, running to play with other children in a running game away from home, before running back home at the end of the day. Running…

These poems help one to navigate through the diverse, intractable, heinous and vociferous forces of one’s life in Zimbabwe and Africa; being born, growing up and eventually dying.

I think that Chirere is a Shadrach + Meshach, and “A bad Nigga”/ Abednego type of an author. This is because he refuses to comply or submit to the whims of pain and he has also long discovered the art of taming pain. Through his works he invites the pain of human life to the arena and he says to it “dance while I beat the drums”.

In another of Chirere's poems, a man wants to wander away and never return home. From now on, he wants to live only in the memory of his wife, children and friends. He thinks that is better than suffering alongside them without being able to help.

In yet another poem, a woman laughs at a man because he looks like her dear lover, long lost in the past. In the other poem, a man carries a goat on his shoulders for a long time down a township road and discovers that he has been sold a ritual goat! In another, a woman and man nearly fall in love gradually as they silently spy on each other through the gap in the fence of their houses. Then something more excruciating than love takes place to stop them...

Published by the fast-rising Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure's Carnelian Heart Publishing LTD in the UK and available through Amazon, Memory Chirere's "Shamhu Yezera Renyu," or "Sjambok of Your Generation" in Shona, is not your typical poetry collection.

Written entirely in the vibrant, beautiful and evocative Shona language, Chirere wields his words like a traditional whip/sjambok, to both challenge and entertain his readers. Chirere outwits pain with humour, his poems delve into the complexities of everyday life, tackling relatable themes of love, loss, societal pressures, and the ever-present struggle for self-discovery.

His masterful use of humour infuses a refreshing dose of lightness, preventing the poems from becoming mired in despair. One of his poems is about the effects of bird song. You hear a bird singing in the morning and sometimes you think that it is calling out your name, just in the manner of your mother or loved one. I also love the poem in which a man eats the child’s plate of porridge, hoping nobody sees. The most stunning poem is in which a nameless man watches a wedding couple kissing and starts to think about the meaning of kisses.

Chirere navigates the tightrope between social commentary and witty observation, prompting introspection and laughter in equal measure. Although he wrote this book in Shona, the emotional core transcends language barriers.

The book’s vivid imagery and themes resonate with readers regardless of their linguistic background. I agree with Ignatius Mabasa in the introduction that; there is no writer like Chirere, however, I think the full richness and depth of "Shamhu Yezera Renyu" can be lost in translation for those unfamiliar with the language.

Two poems in this captivating compilation of Shona poems that navigates the tapestry and intricacies of human experiences with a unique blend of humour and insight are particularly outstanding for me and these are; “Mukanwa” and “Muchipatara.” In these and other poems, Chirere demonstrates a unique ability to balance levity with depth is a testament to his poetic prowess. Thus, making "Shamhu yeZera Renyu" a testament to the enduring power of poetry to illuminate the human experience.

I am not surprised that this collection was ranked ahead of all other books of poems.  Many thanks too, to Tinashe Mchuri, another great poet, for editing this book.

I first came across Memory Chirere through his short story Maize in “Writing Still”, a text which we covered in High School. Like all of my classmates we assumed the name Memory was for girls. We had limited resources to search for the writer, but thanks to the sweet bitter humiliation and correction that came from our Literature in English teacher whenever we referred to Chirere as “she.”

During my first year at the University of Zimbabwe, my roommate Brain used to play Chirere’s youtube videos at Manfred. We would gather around the laptop as UBAs listening to Roja raBaba vaBiggie. My dream came true during my Masters studies, I talked to Chirere and found that one cannot separate him from his works/humour. To my A level classmates and everyone else who loves reading, Chirere is still writing and yes, he is a man. If you are in Zim, find the book through Brain Garusa door to door delivery at: 0779210403

+ The writer of the above review, Rodney T Munemo is a Social Anthropologist (PhD Candidate at the University of Edinburgh). Rodney is a recipient of the coveted Edinburgh-Leiden studentship, awarded in 2022 in recognition of his academic excellence. His current doctoral research delves into the critical nexus of youth waithood, liminalities, urban poverty, development, and religious infrastructures in Zimbabwe. He remains deeply invested in exploring Inclusive Education, the transformative potential of Online Learning, and the complexities of Gender and Land Governance in Zimbabwe. His dedication to these diverse fields reflects a multifaceted and intellectually curious scholar.

Email: r.t.munemo@sms.ed.ac.uk