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November could be the month the Lord has made for local writers and readers to delight in a menu of literary events closely scheduled one after another with Harare City Library gaining momentum as a literary arts events venue of choice.

Having successfully hosted the inaugural Swedish and Zimbabwean Children Literature Day last week, Harare City Library, situated along Rotten Row, remains the darling spot where writers will be heading again for one of the events of a newly formed literary fiesta, the literature festival named LitFest Harare which starts today.

November 21 was dedicated to children that they may also cherish the world of creative imagination and gain a deeper understanding of their universe.

The Swedish and Zimbabwean Children Literature Day, held under the theme ‘‘Verenga. Ziva. Kura. / Bala. Wazi. Ukhule. / Read. Know. Grow’’, drew children and officials from various schools, community libraries and organisations in and outside Harare who celebrated the day in pomp and ceremony.

Swedish Ambassador to Zimbabwe Lars Ronnas, who was guest of honour, said libraries are there because of the need for reading and encouraged children to make use of them.

Reading, he said, is a special part of our lives. He commended the Harare City Library for now being a comfortable place after renovations were done last year.

“Reading a book may not be a game-changer but it certainly is a life-changer. It makes your life rich,” he said.

Ambassador Ronnas went on to present gifts of children’s books (written by Swedish author Sven Nordqvist) to schools like Godfrey Huggins Primary from Marondera, Nhamburiko Primary from Dzivarasekwa, Glen View 2 Primary, Kuwangira Primary from Highfield, Wadzanai Primary from Kambuzuma and various community libraries in Harare and from far places such as the Marondera Children’s Library.

The day would not have been lovely for children without the icing of storytelling, poetry, traditional music and dance. Albert Nyathi, who emceed the event, also performed his poem ‘‘My Daughter’’ which is also available as an illustrated children’s book.

He also sampled his forthcoming poem ‘‘My Son’’, which he said he has always been asked by parents to compose for them as a matter of balancing gender in his message to the young people. Children from Dzikwa Trust cultural group did not fall short on entertaining guests. Their articulate dances and well-arranged marimba music at some point got everyone gyrating on the floor.

Nyathi, assisted by writer Virginia Phiri and storyteller Pauline Mtuda, also engaged the schoolchildren in poetry writing and presentation sessions. Mtuda also titillated the school children’s imagination with a story about forgetful animal characters caught up in a time of drought.

The Children Literature Day is celebrated the world over to promote exchange and mutual understanding among children. It was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954.

Countries are urged to institute a day on which children are given space for cultural exchange and celebration and Sweden’s Children Literature Day falls on November 21. The partnership, it is hoped, will spill over to other provinces to make a nationwide children’s literature festival.

The New Literature Festival in Harare

First of its kind in Harare, the literature festival, named LitFest Harare, will certainly be one of the exciting big events for writers to close the 2014 literary calendar in style. It is happening from November 27 to 29 at three venues with Harare City Library being one of them.

Although LitFest Harare has two satellite venues, that is, University of Zimbabwe and the Book Café, the library hosts day-long literary activities on November 29, the last festival day.

Today, the Book Café will from 5.30pm to 7pm host a literary conversation. Fellow writers and friends will also take advantage of this Book Cafe event to go down memory lane and welcome renowned writer Stanley Nyamfukudza, who has been living in the UK since 2006.

He will be joined by Kenyan academic Tom Odhiambo in the conversation. It would be a moment to mark the return of Nyamfukudza, author of the timeless gem “The Non-Believers’ Journey” (1980) and a contemporary of Dambudzo Marechera at the University of Rhodesia and Oxford University. Other interesting works by Nyamfukudza include “If God Was A Woman” (1991) and Aftermaths (1983). Poet, storyteller and actress Sithandazile Dube will spice up the occasion with a performance.

The following day, November 28 in the afternoon (from 2-4pm), is an opportunity for students and academics as Nyamfukudza joins five other writers Ignatius Mabasa, the Wits University-based Robert Muponde, Sekai Nzenza, Tom Odhiambo and Zukiswa Warner in a discussion under the topic ‘‘Writing and Reading: Are they Mutually Exclusive?’’ at the University of Zimbabwe’s Faculty of Arts. This discussion, to be anchored by writer and University of Zimbabwe lecturer David Mungoshi, closes with a performance by renowned poet who is also the director of LitFest Harare, Chirikure Chirikure.

On the same day in the evening writers and film enthusiasts converge again at the arts and cultural hub Book Café for the screening and open discussion of the film ‘‘The Farewell: Brecht’s Last Summer’’ with panelists Katja Kellerer and local writer Sekai Nzenza. The film is about the life of German poet and playwright Beltolt Brecht.

Artistic sisters Elizabeth a.k.a Zaza and Theresa Muchemwa (our local model, though in a different field, of world celebrated tennis superstars, the Williams sisters — Venus and Serena) are moderating the two Book Café events on November 27 and 28 respectively.

While events on November 27 and 28 are free, it is said that a ‘‘donation is required’’ for one to enjoy the November 29 literary programme that will last the whole day at the Harare City Library. According to a LitFest representative, what this means is that anyone interested in taking part on the day pays whatever amount he/she can afford.

The day-long literary activities on November 29 at the Harare City Library include discussion of topics ‘‘Literature in Zimbabwe: Where Are We Now?’’ and ‘‘Literature in a Nation in Transition’’, performances by Michael Banda, Almasi Collaborative Arts, and dramatic readings by Zaza Muchemwa and friends.

What the LitFest Harare has done so well is bringing on board writers whom the literary industry had been dearly missing, especially for one-on-one discussions.

The day is broken into three sessions moderated by poet Michael Mabwe, journalist Isabella Matambanadzo and academic Taurai L Chinyanganya. The sessions and performances altogether last until 4.30pm and then follows, at the same venue, another special evening event to honour the late legendary writer Dorris Lessing’s wishes.

Harare City Library to Receive Its Bequest After months of anticipation, the official handover of the Dorris Lessing Collection to the Harare City Library takes place on November 29 from 5 to 6.45pm as an important closing ceremony of LitFest Harare. This event is by invitation only.

A statement released last week said that Lessing’s collection constitutes “approximately 3000 books, both fiction and non-fiction, which will appeal to a variety of interests and represents many authors from around the world, including African writers”.

The statement also said that her book collection is being brought to Zimbabwe in honour of her memory and legacy in the country.

Scheduled speakers at the handover ceremony include members of the Lessing family, poet and writer Chirikure Chirikure who is expected to highlight the importance of holding such a handover ceremony on a literature day, and officials from Africa Community Publishing and Development Trust (ACPD) which Dorris Lessing worked with in Zimbabwe and which also played an important role in the books’ journey to Zimbabwe.

Dorris Lessing (1919-2013), born of British parents and lived in Zimbabwe for a long time, was an illustrious writer who inspired many people across the world. The most quoted book among local writers (the late writer Dambudzo Marechera included) is her first novel ‘The Grass is Singing’ (1950) which is set in Zimbabwe. She also wrote a number of other bestsellers. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. How blessed shall readers be to leaf through the pages that once inspired and kept a guru glued to her writing studio!

• LitFest Harare is headed by Chirikure Chirikure as director and a Steering Committee chaired by Dr. Edgar Mberi, a writer, critic and lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. LitFest Harare is being presented as a ‘‘foretaste of an annual International Literature Festival that will take place in 2015’’ and will draw writers, critics, and readers from the African continent and beyond.