WOMAN IN THE SHADOW

Her voice, he had bound
He had strung, her voice
Her voice, he had strangled, strangled, strangled…
When she spoke of his
Binding, binding, binding her
When she spoke of his
Strangling, strangling, strangling her
He broke her voice with a pick axe …
Smashed her being … for years
Crushed her consciousness … for ages
And enslaved what remained of her spirit
Worked her hard by day
That his fields grew greener each year
Toiled her by night
That stout-limbed children were born
By the bound, strangled, crushed woman.

But one day in a hundred years
As a shadow she came
One day in a thousand years
She rose from her living death
And demanded back her voice
This one day, she spoke with the voice of freedom
The man heard the terror speak
In his mind he saw his green fields deserted
Weeds choking the rich green
Hunger … hunger crunching at his children’s health…
No… no… no…

Rope in hand, he flew at her
To bind, to strangle her again
But the shadow, the slave, the woman
Had unbound herself
Horror seized his reason
When he saw his one time slave-woman about to flee
In wild desperation he called for more rope
For more hands to bind her …
But the ropes, in their thickness
Had become too thin to bind her anymore
In her eyes were the spear and sword of her freedom
To him for the first time she said,
“I’m the woman you’ve been killing for ages, ages, ages …”

By Robert Muponde

**Robert Muponde is Associate Professor of English in the Department of English and Assistant Dean for International Affairs and Partnerships, Humanities, at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D in Childhood studies. Muponde is also Co-editor of numerous works, including Versions of Zimbabwe: New Approaches to Literature and Culture; Sign and Taboo: Perspectives on the Poetic Fiction of Yvonne Vera; and Manning the Nation: Father Figures in Zimbabwean Literature and Society.

Lecture at the South African boarder post, 2008

You Zimbabwean fools
Go back across the boarder, quickly
fools!
You chased away your white men
and now you cross over here in such a hurry
to grab all our jobs and women!
Go back across the boarder, quickly
fools!
And stop chasing away your whites,
fools!
(by Memory Chirere)

Desire

Desire is a fire that burns unattended
With nothing to burn-
Desire is a river that never runs dry
With no fish to swim in it.
Desire is the finest black fruit in
an unseen valley
With no one to pick.
Desire is the bluest sky
With no colourful wings to caress.
Desire is the itching in the heart
Scratching cannot cool that down.
Desire and its cousin dreams
Was all we had
being black and poor.
(by Garikai Kamanga)

enter Saiwe Chimbetu!

(Sulumani Chimbetu and Saiwe Chimbetu: picture courtesy of the Chimanimani Arts festival)
During the 2010 Chimanimani Arts festival, Sulumani Chimbetu introduced her sister, Saiwe Chimbetu to the audience and they did a duet of their father's song, Samatenga. Boy, the sister can do all the Chimbetu moves. She can sing like Simon Chimbetu. She can whistle like Simon Chimbetu. She can do the Chimbetu jive- going east, going west and bobbing up and down! For me that moment was the climax to the festival. Am already looking forward to the 2011 version of the Chimanimani Arts festival!

Zimbabwe Writers Association elects substantive committee

HARARE-On Saturday 04 June 2011, the Zimbabwe Writers Association (ZWA)
held its first elective Annual General Meeting at the Zimbabwe Film and
Television School. A seven member substantive executive committee was elected to run the affairs of the association for the next three years. They take over from an interim committee that had been in charge of the association since the umbrella writers' organisation was launched last year.

Veteran writer and university lecturer Musaemura Zimunya who had been the
chairman of the interim committee was retained. He will be deputised by
Zimbabwe Woman Writers' director Eresina Hwede. Tinashe Muchuri a young
writer with a long association with the Budding Writers Association of
Zimbabwe (BWAZ), was elected a secretary. Prominent motivational writer and
speaker Beatrice Sithole was retained as treasurer. Academic writer and
historian Karukai Ratsauka was voted in as the resource mobiliser. Prolific
writer, blogger and university lecturer Memory Chirere and poet/journalist
Dakarai Mashava were made committee members.

Speaking after his election, Zimunya thanked ZWA's funding partners in
particular the British Council, the Culture Fund, and the embassy of Spain
for being very supportive. "I would like to thank our funding partners for their generous support and the outgoing interim committee for being diligent in the execution of their ZWA duties at great personal expense".

Guest of honour at the event, veteran author, educationist, Dr. Thompson Tsodzo was the returning officer for the elections. The elections were graced by such prominent authors as Noma-award winner Shimmer Chinodya, National Arts Director Elvas Mari, Tawona Mtshiya,Virginia Phiri, Ignatius Mabasa and Samuel Makore, the chairman of Zimbabwe Academic and Non-Fiction Authors (ZANA).The objectives of ZWA include among many others promoting writing in all its forms and in all the languages of Zimbabwe and standing up for the rights and welfare of the Zimbabwean writer.For more information please contact [Musaemura Zimunya] by calling[0772334919], or e-mail [Musaemura] at [musaz@arts.uz.ac.zw]

ZIMBABWE WRITERS ASSOCIATION GENERAL ELECTION SATURDAY 4TH JUNE 2011- DETAILS

I write to confirm that we are on schedule to hold the meeting and The Elections for the substantive Board to run the affairs of The Association. You are also reminded
that this is your occasion to nominate - and feel free to be nominated - competent, open-minded, dedicated and trustworthy individuals to direct the operations of The Association for the next THREE YEARS, in accordance with The Constitution:

Date: 4th June, 2011

Venue: Zimbabwe Film and Television School of Southern Africa,
(Along Mazowe Street between Parirenyatwa Hospital and S
African Embassy)

Agenda

08:30 Arrival and Registration

09:00 Welcome Note Dr R Zhuwarara

09:15 Introduction and Report Back,
Question and Answer, Announcements M.B. Zimunya & Committee

09:45 Tea Break

10:15 Elections Returning Officer DR T K Tsodzo

11:15 Vote of Thanks Executive Committee

11:25 Handover-Takeover

SPREAD THE WORD.

Musaemura B Zimunya
Chairperson, Interim Committe(ZWA)

Interim Committee of ZWA: Musaemura B Zimunya, Ms Primrose Dzenga, Ms
Beatrice Sithole, Mr Memory Chirere, Ms Karukai Ratsauka, Mr George
Mujajati, Mr Dakarai Mashava

'a woman grows on love' by Nyasha Mboti

A Woman grows on love
(poem By Nyasha Mboti)

There is only
One way to love a woman
And that
Is to love her.

Love her like
She exists in a dream.

Love her
And give her unforgettableness
Unforgettable sweetness.

Ah, use your hands to find her
Bring her to your side
Give her gifts of fire.

Love a woman
Because she grows on love
She grows and grows
And you wonder at her ripeness.

Do not cheat a woman
Do not ask her things
That she cannot answer.

Do to a woman, love.
Do to a woman the good things
That are in a man
Do to her, love.

There is only
One way to love her
To reserve all your gentleness
For her
To conserve your manliness
To please her:
Then she will grow.