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Beaven Tapureta Bookshelf
It seems written plays are yet to create a niche of their own. Children’s stories also seem to be few although publishers are doing their best to stimulate the young readers.

Looking at this year alone, it is easy to note that the book industry has a certain gusto to write and publish although this energy is under pressure as it is directed at a less responsive readership.

Although no exact statistics exist to show how the reading culture has dwindled, it is clear from writers’ and publishers’ meetings and workshops organised during the year that readers are becoming fewer by the day while writers and publishers are raring to go.

The year began with recognising outstanding books published in the preceding year at the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA), which is held in February every year!

While the NAMA’s set the pace, their judgment is not definitive of the entire list of books published in the year under focus.

This is one of the reasons why sometime after the 2014 NAMA awards ceremony this column generously proposed that there should be stand-alone literature awards in the country. Patience pays, it will one day happen!

Cynthia Marangwanda’s novella “Shards” still rings in the mind. It was the baby that won the 2015 Outstanding First Creative Published Work.

Under the same category, an important book far from fiction but helpful to fiction writers titled “English-Shona Science and Technology Dictionary” by Christopher Chetsanga received special mention.

“Around the Fire — Folk-tales from Zimbabwe” (edited by Christopher Mlalazi and Raisedon Baya) won the Outstanding Children’s Book Award. Receiving special mention also under this category was “Small Friends and Other Stories” published by King George VI School-Centre for Physically Disabled Children.

It is interesting to note that Memory Chirere’s Shona poetry anthology “Bhuku Risina Basa Nokuti Rakanyorwa Masikati” (Bhabhu Books) is being translated into German and being read in countries like the USA. The anthology won the 2015 Outstanding Fiction Book.

The NAMA awards happened in February and yet the noise in the book sector did not end that month as writers and publishers in their different abodes continued to throw in a new book here and there.

Some of the books published this year have been captured in reviews in the “Bookshelf column” and from this sample (and add to that some works not captured by “Bookshelf”) one can roughly deduce a tendency towards a certain variety in our literature.

There are motivational works, Shona and English poetry anthologies, historical books, English short story anthologies, novels, and literary criticism.

It seems written plays are yet to create a niche of their own! Children stories also seem to be few although publishers are doing their best to stimulate the young readers.

Perhaps the books are there hidden in the offices and they have not been publicised. However, poetry remains highly favoured especially by first-time writers.

Hitting the market this year were poetry books such as “A Shower of Poetic Vistas” written by Shumirai Nhanhanga published by Zimbabwe Women Writers, “Dzinonyandura”, a Shona collection of poetry, which although published late last year, became available this year, “Life” (edited by Tatenda Munyuki) an English anthology featuring two poets Catherine Magodo and Awande Ngwenya, “Traps” published by Zimbabwe Women Writers, “Flowers of a Dry Season” and “Tsuro Ndisunge” both published by Forteworx Press, and “Waiting for the Time” a collection by Lloyd Machacha.

The anthologies are mostly by new writers who are investing in publishing their works for the first time via different routes. For example, “Dzinonyandura” first started as a platform on social media until the poems which were posted or shared were compiled and edited for publication in a book.

However, the silence of our established poets seems to suggest that they are watching from a distance and perhaps next year they will churn out theirs!

“Dear Miss, Dear Mister-Wisdom for Relationships Vol One” by Patson Dzamara is a motivational book which also came out this year. In the same genre, another book titled “Pride of a Girl Child” by new writer CJ Mylton was also published this year by Forteworx Press. Dzamara’s book could be one of his many books published this year as he is tremendously prolific!

The short story did not lag behind. The only sad thing is that we heard of no Shona short story anthology, at least under this column.

The English short story anthologies that come to mind are the recently launched “Writing Mystery and Mayhem” published by Weaver Press and “True Lies” from the Forteworx stable.

As for the novel in English, established writer Petina Gappah had hers titled “The Book of Memory” published early this year. Prof Robert Muponde gave us “Some Kinds of Childhood” (Africa World Press), which is basically literary criticism. This book generated some interest in the status of literary criticism in Zimbabwe and its value to the in-depth study of literature.

A Shona novel, which has now clocked a painful ‘era’ since we were promised it will be published this year, is yet to come. “Chibarabada” by Tinashe Muchuri, is being published by Bhabhu Books but the Muchuri’s debut novel has got us waiting but good news is that the author confided in “Bookshelf” that it could be out this week!

There is another powerful 2015 Shona book titled “Rega Zvipore” (Midlands State University Press) written by John George Mayowe who is a distinguished freedom fighter. It details the happenings during Zimbabwe’s war of liberation. It is touching as the story is told by a participant in the war and the book comes with photos taken from this war that gave birth to our new nation.

This book is politically historical and it reminds one of other books that are, however, culturally historical, which were written by former education minister Aeneas Chigwedere and published this year. The books are “The Anti-Portuguese War 1675-1695” and “The Mutasa Dynasty-1695-2000” both published by Mutapa Publishing House.

Given the efforts of writers and publishers, is there a place then where we can go and be spoilt for choice in terms of the new books? Indeed, we cry for a time when these published books become easily available in bookshops and libraries either in print or electronic form.

It will be wonderful to see men and women of Zimbabwe reading under a tree in the park or in their verandahs or any quiet place where the mind absorbs the pleasurable enlightenment that comes with reading.

Apart from book publishing, there were other ups and downs in the sector. Death rocked the sector. Two literary luminaries, Chenjerai Hove and Freedom Nyamubaya passed away this year.

Writers have so far commemorated the life and works of the late Hove. It is great comfort that Nyamubaya’s legacy lives on as she passed the writing gift to her son Naishe Hassan Nyamubaya, who features in the 2015 short story anthology “Writing Mystery and Mayhem”.