Final list ZIMBOLICIOUS POETRY: An Anthology of Zimbabwean Poets

ZIMBOLICIOUS POETRY: An Anthology of Zimbabwean Poets

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Edited by Tendai R. Mwanaka

& Edward Dzonze

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About the editors

Tendai Rinos Mwanaka is a multi-disciplinary writer, scholar and artist from Zimbabwe. Author of, Finding A Way Home, Revolution: Struggle Poems, Playing To Love’s Gallery, Zimbabwe: The Urgency of Now, co-editor of, Best “New” African Poets 2015 Anthology; Democracy, Good Governance and Development in Africa and Experimental Writing: Volume 1, Africa Vs Latin America. Forthcoming books include, Pearls of Awareness; A conversation… A Contact; Language, Thought, Art and Existence. He is also a visual artist, musical/sound artist, mentor, reviewer...

 

EDWARD DZONZE, 26, is a self made poetry critic and finds his purpose in life through playing around with words. He is the author of Many Truths Told at Once, Royalty Publishing USA, 2015, and Wisdom Speaks, Royalty Publishing USA, 2016. His poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies including, We are One, Diaspora Publishers UK, 2014; World peace anthology, India, 2014, and recently in Best New African Poets 2015 Anthology

Tables of Contents

1.   My grave- Phumulani Chipandambiri

2.   Love at first write- Panashe Madziva

3.   The poem- Brighton Ndhlovu

4.   The birth of a poem- Emmanuel Sigauke

5.   Another poem- Brighton Ndhlovu

6.   Running towards the song I will never hear- Tendai Mwanaka

7.   Just say it- Brighton Ndhlovu

8.   How can you say nothing- Emmanuel Sigauke

9.   Talk is cheap???- Tendekai Tati

10.               Turn off the lights- Emmanuel Sigauke

11.               Hurukuro- Tinashe Muchuri

12.               Talks- Tinashe Muchuri (trans)

13.               Chasing money- Tariro Ndoro

14.               These streets- Tendekai Tati

15.               Maiduguri- Mbizo Chirasha

16.               Winter in Matabeleland, 1987- John Eppel

17.               I will not silence the sun- Mbizo Chirasha

18.               Chocolate star- Munyaradzi Mawere

19.               The rain falls- Lisa Jaison

20.               The word remains- Vupenyu Zvoushe

21.               Singing Zimbabwe among genius- Edward Dzonze

22.               Ndoimba Zimbabwe nedzimwe nyanzwi- Edward Dzonze (trans)

23.               My son, why?- Vupenyu Zvoushe

24.               The new generation- Munyaradzi Mawere

25.               Oh father, give me a break!- Vupenyu Zvoushe

26.               Zvokwedu- Jabulani Mzinyathi

27.               Our heritage- Jabulani Mzinyathi (trans)

28.               The spirit of Marceline Champaynat- Jackson Matimba

29.               Song of Africa- Chenjerai Mhondera

30.               The bell rings- Cosmas Shoko

31.               Mutyairi- Gumisai Nyoni

32.               The driver- Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga (trans)

33.               Yakarira hwamanda yeChimurenga- Jabulani Mzinyathi

34.               The sounding of the trumpet of Chimurenga- Jabulani Mzinyathi(trans)

35.               Unemployed- Tsitsi Sachikonye

36.               Child soldier- Panashe Madziva

37.               War veterans- Phumulani Chipandambiri

38.               A hermitress hunting- Jackson Matimba

39.               Thudding boots- Christopher Kudyahakudadirwe

40.               Waiting for the bus- John Eppel

41.               The pound of flesh- Christopher Kudyahakudadirwe

42.               Up in arms with my own- Edward Dzonze

43.               Jambanja pachedu- Edward Dzonze (trans)

44.               That wintry autumn night- Christopher Kudyahakudadirwe

45.               Ndiri pee- Gumisai Nyoni

46.                I am unperturbed- Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga (trans)

47.               Brutus- Prince Chidzvondo

48.               Zviri kufamba sei?- Ushehwedu Kufakurinani

49.               What’s happening?- Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga (trans)

50.               I shall cry when I want- Chenjerai Mhondera

51.               Akagumiswa nei?- Tinashe Muchuri

52.               Who killed him?- Tinashe Muchuri (trans)

53.               Slaughter- Tsitsi Sachikonye

54.               Remember Chimoio- Catherine Magodo-Mutukwa

55.               Omunene kofwa bweeme- Jeffrey Muleya

56.               Be ashamed of yourself- Jeffrey Muleya (trans)

57.               The dreadful month- Hosea Tokwe

58.               Horikocho- Gumisai Nyoni

59.               Joyful games- Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga (trans)

60.               chef’s special for the day- David Mungoshi

61.               Ndakudanga- Cosmas Mairosi

62.               Pompous one- Cosmas Mairosi (trans)

63.               Nhundiramutsime- Ushehwedu Kufakurinani

64.               A pervert- Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga (trans)

65.               Accusations- Phumulani Chipandambiri

66.               A child- Lovers Pamire

67.               Silhouettes- David Mungoshi

68.               Night carrying night- Tendai Mwanaka

69.               Under the heavens- Constance van Niekerk

70.               Dusk- Hosea Tokwe

71.               In the stilly night- John Eppel

72.               Contempt- Tsitsi Sachikonye

73.               Our fathers are gone- Ivor Hartmann

74.               He came to die- Tariro Ndoro

75.               On her deathbed- Catherine Magodo-Mutukwa

76.               Strong and independent- Tariro Ndoro

77.               Her place- Lisa Jaison

78.               Queer is another word for unaccepted- Prince Chidzvondo

79.               My lover- Lovers Pamire

80.               …love like religion…- Prince Chidzvondo

81.               Grapes for me- Lisa Jaison

82.               Beyond my reach- Lovers Pamire

83.               Frolicking- David Mungoshi

84.               Tears in her eyes- Catherine Magodo-Mutukwa

85.               The things we lost- Constance van Niekerk

86.               Noone wangu- Jeffrey Muleya

87.               My sweetie- Jeffrey Muleya (trans)

88.               Hotel door- Constance van Niekerk

89.               I wanted her to be my citizen- Tendai Mwanaka

Introduction

Zimbolicious girl a song by Prince Tendai Mupfurutsa in the 1990s brought this word into any form of recording. With the beautiful sultry babes dancing to this new urban beat we extolled the beauty of our unique ladies in Zimbabwe. It is a combination of the word Zimbo, for Zimbabwean, and licious from the English word delicious, thus it talks of the beauty and deliciousness of Zimbabwean girls. We borrowed from this to create our own brand of anthology, Zimbolicious Poetry. It is the beauty and deliciousness of Zimbabwe’s poetry that we offer in this anthology. In her essay, Flora Veit-Wild, for Seminar fu¨r Afrikawissenschaften, Humboldt Universita¨t zu Berlin, Online, tackles this word literary and writes that, “‘Zimbolicious’ is a term I picked up from one of the numerous Zimbolingo chat forums that serve Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora to communicate among one another. Having been coined ‘to describe the beauty of Zimbabwean women’, for me this exquisite new word is a most suitable epithet for what I want to explore in this essay: the creative energy arising from the mix of languages – the ‘delicious pie dish’, as South African poet Ike Mboneni Muila calls it, in which ‘languages [take] the place of cake flour’.” Just like Zimbabwean girls, Zimbabwean poetry is delicious

Zimbolicious poetry is a unique poetic taste served to the best of Zimbabwe’s abilities in poetry and in this anthology the poets expresses themselves in their vernacular and the English language as per our call below.

ZIMBOLICIOUS POETRY: Zimbabwe in Poetry

We are looking for poems in all Zimbabwean indigenous languages (Chewa, Chibarwe, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa) and English language. The indigenous languages entries should be accompanied with an English translation. We prefer short poems but we will read long poems and will include some in the anthology.

Send us your best work, not more than 3 poems per poet in one document, including a bio note of not more than 50 words

ZIMBOLICIOUS POETRY: Zimbabwe in Poetry will be a multilingual book of the best new Zimbabwean poets that will be published by Royalty Publishing, USA

There will be equal sharing of royalties among the contributors

This is a strictly Zimbabwean poets anthology, so we will only read and consider work from citizens of Zimbabwe and her diasporas (parents are of Zimbabwean descent).

Send your work to both Tendai R Mwanaka at mwanaka@yahoo.com and Edward Dzonze at aroundzimbabweinpoetry@gmail.com

Deadline for entries is 30^th April 2016

We are grateful to the poets who submitted their work, and much more grateful to those who made it into this anthology. Our intention was to bring together Zimbabwean poets so that we will start the dialogue, conversations, arguments…, about our world through poetry, thus in the anthology this is what we tried to encourage as editors, where poets were coming in with topics they wanted to cover; arguing, conversing, crystallizing, objecting, and developing each argument but never settling for one viewpoint. Our intention was to open out to every view on any topic tackled by the poets themselves.

Zimbolicious poetry has 89 poems and translations in Shona, English, Tonga, and Chibarwe from 32 poets and translators, tackling issues to do with poetry, writing in general, art, place, identity, tradition, struggle, collective understanding, individual, human rights and love.

Knowing how beautiful Zimbabwean poetry is always, this is indeed a delicious dish!

Bio notes

Titled Zim’s next Chinua Achebe by a lifestyle writer, the Harare based poet and writer Prince Rayanne Chidzvondo is an 18 year old boy with an undying passion and love for literature.  He was awarded the 2^nd runner up prize for the Cover to Cover annual series in 2014.

Phumulani Chipandambira was born in Mhondoro Ngezi, he currently stays with his family in Norton. He is a freelance writer who likes reading and writing short stories and poetry.

Mbizo Chirasha was born in Zvishavane district in 1978. He is an internationally acclaimed performance poet, writer and creative projects facilitator and live literature producer. In 2003 he was the New Generation Poetry Delegate at The Gothenburg International Book Fair, Nordic African Institute Writers Seminar, and Swedish Writers Union reading night in Sweden. He co-authored a poetry anthology titled, Whispering Woes of Ganges and Zambezi with Sweta Vikram, an Indian born-New York based poet.

John Eppel is a school teacher who lives in Bulawayo.  He has been publishing since the late 60s, and has 17 books of poetry and prose to his name.

Ivor W. Hartmann is a Zimbabwean writer, editor, publisher, and visual artist. Awarded The Golden Baobab Prize (2009), finalist for the Yvonne Vera Award (2011), selected for The 20 in Twenty: The Best Short Stories of South Africa’s Democracy (2014), and awarded third place in the Jalada Prize for Literature (2015). His works have appeared in many publications. He runs the StoryTime micro-press, publisher of the African Roar and AfroSF series of anthologies, and is on the advisory board of Writers International Network Zimbabwe.

Lisa Jaison: I was born in the city of Gweru in Zimbabwe. After my first degree at the Midlands State University I relocated to South Africa where I commenced a carrier as a research consultant, and studying for my post grad with the University of South Africa. I remain an avid reader and an artist at heart.

Christopher ‘Voice’ Kudyahakudadirwe holds a MA in Creative Writing from the University of the Western Cape, a BA (Honours) from University of the Western Cape, a BA English and Communication Studies from the Zimbabwe Open University. He has been writing poetry, short stories and novels for quite some time with a few of his pieces seeing publication. Some of his poems were published in Best “New” African Poets 2015 Anthology. His short Story ‘Voices of the Ancestors’ was published in New Contrast.

Ushehwedu Kufakurinani is a language nationalist interested in the advancement of local languages. He is a published poet who writes mostly in Shona. He is also a Senior lecturer in the Department of Economic History at the University of Zimbabwe.

My name is Panashe Madziva (aka Arcane), a 26 year old poet from Harare, Zimbabwe, who begun writing poetry between 2009 and 2010 and became performing poet in 2014. I’ve been featured on Poetry International (2014) after being a finalist in the inaugural Word Garden poetry contest. 

Cosmas Mairosi, Zimbabwean-born performance poet; teacher, researcher and voluntary arts administrator. His work appears in several anthologies online and in print, in Africa, Europe and the Americas. He has performed at international arts events. His work has been podcast, roadcast and broadcast on ZBC, SABC and BBC radio and television.

Jackson T. Matimba was born in Nyanga, in the year 1978. He writes poetry that suits people of all walks of life. He believes in simplicity in poetry, yet with quality as a common factor. His work is included in: Best ‘New’ African Poets 2015 Anthology, Experimental Writing: volume 1, Africa vesus Latin America, and his own poetry book-THE NATURE OF MY SIGNATURE, was published this year by Royalty Publishers USA.

Munyaradzi Mawere holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa. He is currently Professor in the Department of Culture and Heritage Studies at Great Zimbabwe University. Before joining this university, Professor Mawere was a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and at Universidade Pedagogica, Mozambique. He has an outstanding publishing record of more than one hundred and twenty pieces of work which include more than twenty-seven books and over a hundred book chapters and papers in scholarly journals.

Chenjerai Mhondera is a novelist, poet, performer, playwright, actor and songwriter. He is a patron and founder of Young Writers Club in Mabelreign-Warren Park district. He comes from the Eastern highlands, lives in Zimbabwe and is a citizen of the world.

Jeffrey Muleya was born in 1972 in Dobola, Binga district. He began writing and translation work between Tonga and other languages in Zimbabwe in 2001. He has been part of the editorial team of Tonga Bwacha Lino (gr.1-7) primary course, published in 2010 and the secondary Lusumpuko (Form 1-4) course that followed. He has been doing translation, consultancy and editing work for COPAC, Ministries of health, education, NGOs (Red Cross, CADEC/CARITAS, Carbon Green Africa, WASH, PSI, Basilwizi, Ntengwe, PLAN etc)

David Mungoshi: I am a retired teacher with experience across the education spectrum at all levels. So I have been lucky to meet people from and in very different settings and that has been very handy motivation for my poetry writing and reading. Long Live Poetry!

Catherine Magodo-Mutukwa, is a published poet/author keen on highlighting those social issues that affect society negatively, she uses this art form to bring awareness, and in the process hopefully, inspire and uplift other women. She lives in South Africa, she loves to travel and read. 

Jabulani Mzinyathi was born in Gweru on 1 September 1965. Jabulani is a writer in general and a poet in particular. Jabulani was awarded a diploma for excellence in poetry by the Scottish international open poetry in 1997. Jabulani holds qualifications in education, law and human resources management.

Brighton Ndhlovu was born the 30th of August 1994. Has always been an art enthusiast. Started writing poetry in 2009 in his high school period after a whole childhood of performing other people's poetry. He then fell in love with writing for stage in 2013, the same year he started stage performance. He is a poet, a playwright and a performer

Tariro Ndoro was born in Harare, raised in Bindura, has lived in many other small towns and has now settled in Harare. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Rhodes University and her work has appeared in Tyhini2015, New Contrast and Best New African Poets 2015 Anthology.

Constance van Niekerk is a Zimbabwean born creative and freelance writer currently living in South Africa. She is an Editor at Zimonlinenews.com and a blogger at Afrique Beat (www.afriquebeat.com). A poet of note and an Educator who occasionally contributes to Tuck Magazine (www.tuckmagazine.com). 

Gumisai Nyoni, born in 1982, is a media practitioner who graduated with a post-graduate Diploma in Media and Communication Studies at the University of Zimbabwe in 2005. He also holds a BA Honours in Theatre Arts Degree. He did his primary education at Morowa Primary School in Gokwe, Copper Queen, his secondary at Nkululeko High School in Gweru and A Level at Loreto High School. He has worked for several newspapers in Zimbabwe.

My name is Lovers Pamire, born on the 25^th of August 1981 in Hurungwe Karoi at a place called Mudzimu. I am an Occupational Health Nurse by profession. Art is my food and drink and l find satisfaction in it. I am a country musician currently working on my 4^th album since 2012. I am an actor, videographer and editor. I considered seriously taking my poetic skills to another level this year 2016 and am having lots of fun in doing so.

Tsitsi Sachikonye is currently a PhD candidate in French & Francophone Literature at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. Tsitsi likes lecturing and conducting literary research. She is also a professional singer and public speaker. Tsitsi enjoys sailing, swimming, hiking, cycling and many other adventurous sports. She is extremely passionate about reading and travelling.

Emmanuel Sigauke is the editor of Munyori Literary Journal. He resides in California, where he teaches writing at Cosumnes River College. He has published a collection of short stories and a poetry anthology. He has also appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. He also been a contest judge for Writivism.

Cosmas Shoko was born in 1987, in the asbestos town of Zvishavane. He is a budding poet. He studied at Midlands State University. He has work to be published  in EXPERIMENTAL WRITING: Volume 1, Africa Vs Latin America Anthology, Centum Press 100 Voices Anthology and IFLAC Anti-Terror\ War Anthology.

Tendekai P Tati is a Zimbabwean writer who was born in Harare in December 1989. He grew up in Kwekwe and Masvingo then moved back to Harare where he established himself as a writer and a performance poet. Tendekai writes poetry, short stories and does pretty well as a blogger too.

Doreen Rumbidzai Tivenga is a second year PhD student in English Literary and Cultural Studies at The University of Free State South Africa where she is also a Teaching Assistant in the Department of English. She enjoys reading and analysing literary works and researching on contemporary youth music and cultures.

Gweru-based writer Hosea Tokwe has worked in Librarianship since 1991. With a passion for writing, Hosea started performance at the Book Café  in 2009. He recently joined the Zimbabwe Writers Association, and is currently working on short stories which he hopes to get published. He is

married and has four children.

Vupenyu Zvoushe is a Zimbabwean poet. He spent part of his childhood in Zambia where he attended primary school. A former school teacher, Zvoushe enjoys writing in his spare time. He is yet to publish his poetry in a single volume.