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Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Senior Arts Reporter
National Arts Merit Award (NAMA) 2010 winning novel writer, poet and academic David Mungoshi, has died.

Mungoshi, who won an award for authoring the novel “The Fading Sun” is also a former columnist for The Herald.

He died on Saturday evening after battling ill health for some time. He was 71.

Family spokesperson Tadiwa Mungoshi said his father succumbed to gout at the Avenues Clinic in Harare.

Tadiwa said his father’s death came as a shock as they thought he was recovering.

“My father was a great man. His death came as a shock considering that his health was improving. He was admitted to hospital last Monday after suffering from gout for a long time.

“He had health problems such as arthritis which affected his mobility for over 10 years. He also had pulmonary fibrosis, but it was now under control,” he said.

Tadiwa added: “We are now waiting for the post mortem so we can process the burial, but all the tests were conducted, including the Covid-19 test.”

Mungoshi will be buried in Manyene, Chivhu at a date to be announced in due course, as some of the writer’s children based in the United Kingdom are still to come.

He is survived by his wife, Emma, six children and 12 grandchildren.

Mourners are gathered at number 3 Muguza Way, Cranborne, Harare.

Meanwhile, the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ), director Nicholas Moyo has sent a condolence message to the Mungoshi family, the arts fraternity and the nation at large.

“He is a 2010 NAMA award winner for his novel “The fading Son” published in 2009, which tackled issues of breast cancer and its effect on the patient, their spouse, family and friends.

The book was put on a list of literature set books for schools.

“The late Mungoshi also contributed to poetry with his works featured in many anthologies following his own collection of poems “Live Like An Artist” (2017), which is a retrospective arc populated by femme fatales oral histories, metaphysical musings and coming of age diaries.”

“A former University of Zimbabwe Linguistics lecturer, Mungoshi left a huge void in the arts sector as he contributed to the development of the sector through mentoring and his invaluable insights as a panellist in the NAMA adjudication committee for the literary categories,” said Moyo.

Zimbabwe Writers Association chairpeson Monica Cheru said the late Mungoshi was “generous with his knowledge and expertise” as he groomed many upcoming and established writers.

“He was a simple and humble man who was always willing to support other writers in the community.

“The gap that David left is huge. But we are confident that it will be filled because he practiced a culture of empowerment and trained others to his exacting standards. His legacy will live on,” she said.