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Stanely Mushava Litreature Today
Silence, impassioned testimonials, and readings from “Shadows” and “Blind Moon”. The Literary Evening was not just the high point of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) but fitting homage for the country’s late-lamented second generation writer Chenjerai Hove. Although the evening, of July 31 at the National Art Gallery, had neither the marathon duration nor the capacity crowd of the Indaba, it was more literary in character, this crowned by the emotive rendition of Hove’s legacy.

The audience could affirm the immortality of Hove, not just from the performed extracts but his inspirational input which has gone full flower in the literary notables of the day.

Albert Nyathi, Ignatius Mabasa, Memory Chirere, Emmanuel Sigauke and Robert Muponde are among conventionally established writers who basked in the rays of Hove’s creative genius when he coordinated a writing club during his days as a writer-in-residence at the University of Zimbabwe.

This, among the expanse of tributes paid at the evening, suggested that had Hove not published a line, he could still merit classical distinction in the development of Zimbabwean literature.

Family spokesperson Ray Mawerera walked delegates down episodes of Hove’s funeral.

He said Chirikure Chirikure, Albert Nyathi and Emmanuel Mbirimi (Neria’s screen husband) were among artists who came to see Chenjerai off at Copper Queen.

Mawerera intimated that Hove’s daughter recited a poem entitled ‘I Will Wait’ composed at the funeral to process the parting promise “I will wait till we meet again.”

“It was so moving,” Mawerera said. “Albert Nyathi and Chirikure Chirikure performed ‘Senze nina’ at the funeral.”

Nyathi also recited his poem “I Will Not Speak,” trimming off the hard-hitting bits, he said.

“For those who didn’t know, Chenjerai wrote ‘I Will Not Speak’ for Albert Nyathi,” Mawerera told delegates.

“We want to thank Zimbabwe for the messages of sorrow and sympathy,” he said.

“The Literary Evening is important for capturing the ambience of ZIBF,” writer and critic Memory Chirere prefaced his reading of Hove’s work.

Chirere said his generation had been privileged to interact with notables such as Ngugi WaThiongo, T.K Tsodzo and Musaemura Zimunya at literary evenings during the early years of the book fair.

“It’s at the evening that, as budding writers, we first rubbed shoulders with Chenjerai Hove,” Chirere said.

“I will read from a book he wrote when he was the writer-in-residence at UZ and we were in his group with Emmanuel Sigauke, Ignatius Mabasa, Zvisinei Sandi, Thabisani Ndlovu, Robert Muponde and Albert Nyathi,” he said.

Chirere said Hove had read the manuscript of his 1994 novel “Shadows” to members of the literary club when the novel was still work in progress.

“I agree with those who say that although ‘Bones’ won an award, ‘Shadows’ is a better book,” Chirere said.

He read from the prologue of “Shadows,” the less-known novel about star-crossed lovers, before picking a poem from the 2003 poetry collection, “Blind Moon.”

“When I suddenly read about Hove’s death, I opened one of his books (Blind Moon) and the first piece I saw is a poem entitled ‘Hope,’” Chirere said.

He read the poem about floating together like a leaf in the wind without falling, a figure that rather evoked brevity and vulnerability than (or is it of?) hope.

The testimonials affirmed that Hove lives on, not just in the premier stacks of Zimbabwean literature but also in the hearts of those whose lives and careers he impacted.

Hove broke into print in 1981 in the multi-authored war poetry anthology “And Now the Poets Speak” edited by Musaemura Zimunya and Mudereri Kadhani, a project for which he was erroneously credited as co-editor in most obituaries by local newspapers.

Remarkably, the editors of the anthology singled Hove out as an example of “suppressed talent,” a poet with “prophetic vision” and “one of the powerful voices to have emerged in this country.”

The collection featured 12 of Hove’s poems, most of which subsequently appeared in his solo project “Up in Arms” in 1982 and the joint anthology with Lyamba waKabika, “Swimming in Floods of Tears,” in 1983.

Hove’s poetic inventory is distinctive for its loyalty to society’s least regarded and most vulnerable.

“To You Who Refused,” Hove’s tribute poem for Dambudzo Marechera can well be redirected to him 28 years on, in light of his love of freedom and the controversial episodes of his career.

Another immense figure of local writing, poet and liberation war hero Freedom Nyamubaya, was honoured with a reading from her defining anthology, “On the Road Again.”

The reading was about to be struck off-schedule in the absence of a copy of Nyamubaya’s books, when John Stuart came to the rescue with a reading from his device.

Stuart said Nyamubaya used to frequent his house in the eighties while he was staying with Stella Chiweshe and her mother.

He said Nyamubaya was passionate about rural development and women’s rights, and urged that more be written on local authors.

Herbert Sengwayo of Friends of Joshua Trust concurred, pointing out that there was a lot of war archives, “love letters which never reached home” from prison, which writers could work into great narratives.

Stuart read the title piece from “On the Road Again,” a poem about being always on the go, braving endless struggles away from the “safe haven of the womb.”

Young Batsirai Chigama opened the evening with her two poems, notably “Frills of Winter,” a moving poem about a diasporan son who comes back after the burial of a parent to “cry uncried tears” and find closure.

Next onstage was Hove’s US-based homeboy, Emmanuel Sigauke, with a reading from his 2014 collection “Mukoma’s Marriage and Other Stories.”

Sigauke’s young narrator anticipates fame across Mhototi in Mazvihwa, and relishes the prospect of financial success in the event that he is certified as a spirit medium.

Chirere also read his poem “Shamwari Yako Saru” from his Nama-winning 2014 poetry anthology, “Bhuku Risina Basa Nekuti Rakanyorwa Masikati.”

He read the naughty poem while gesturing to event chair Beatrice Sithole, drawing laughter from the crowd.

The remainder of the evening was dedicated to deliberations on problems in the literary community, a session chaired by young author Lawrence Hoba.

Mhondoro-based budding novelist and Writers International Network (Win-Zim) member Joseph Matonga came out guns blazing against his established counterparts whom he accused of frustrating upcoming acts just to maintain the status quo.

Rapporteur and The Herald’s literary columnist Bevan Tapureta warned senior writers to be wary of being “given a fist” by angry budding writers. Tapureta emphasised hard work and sacrifice as necessary values in every writer’s journey.

Poet and novelist Edwin Msipa (Uncle Sipet) pointed out that the book fair usually runs concurrently with the exam period, urging a revision of the ZIBF calendar in order to allow more students to attend.

Msipa said a greater student attendance is indispensable, noting that a reading culture is more likely to be cultivated at a young age.

He also urged ZIBF to spread its turf to the farthest ends of the country, through mini-fairs, so as to champion literature nationwide.

“The Diplomat” publisher Reginald Chakabva observed that piracy can be effectively curtailed if publishers curbed workflow costs so as to price their books competitevely.

ZIBFA chairperson Obey Bvute urged an attitude change on the part of writers.

“Writers must not have a sense of entitlement. You need to fight for your own space,” Bvute said.

“Writing is a journey and frustrations are part of it. There is no substitute for competiteveness,” he said.

Bvute said ZIBF was bent to developing cultural products into competitive premium.

“We want ZIBF to be the hub where businesses network, harness potential and develop premium,” Bvute said.

The country’s premier literary festival was held in Harare from July 27 to August 1 under the theme “Growing the Knowledge Economy through Research, Writing, Publishing and Reading.”

Writers, publishers, booksellers and librarians converged at the Indaba to share ideas on how best Zimbabwe’s knowledge economy can be optimised.

Other highlights of the book fair included Exhibitions, Meet the Author Sessions, Live Literature Centre, Children’s Reading Tent, the Digital Zone and the Writers, Publishers, Booksellers and Librarians’ Workshop.

Stanely Mushava blogs at upstreamafrica.blogspot.com.