Take a collection of colorful, madcap characters linked by a Family House and the despotic grandfather, part god, part politician, and part semi-benevolent dictator, who rules the house. Add a rich sense of culture peppered by local dialect, humor, and the scents of cook fires and earthy, delicious foods. Spice with a hint of political…
Economics professor Smile Dube reviews Benjamin Sibanda’s debut novel When Freedom Came, which is set in Zimbabwe after 1980. Starting in the 1970s, when young university students left the then Rhodesia to pursue their education in England, the book covers the life of a young man who has returned to a newly independent Zimbabwe, to…
Kutyauripo, the Custodian of Shona Cultural Values CHINUA Achebe writes in “African Writers Talking” (1972:7) that: “. . . what I think a novelist can teach is something very fundamental, namely to indicate to his readers, to put it crudely that we in Africa did not hear of culture for the first time from…
Madzimai paanonyora nhetembo dzerudo vanenge vanonetseka kunyora vachinyatsobudisa zvavanonzwa kana vapinda murudo. Memory Chirere anovapa mhosva yekunyora pane imwe nguva savarume kwete samadzimai. Pane kuti ndakadya John vanonyora kuti ‘Ndakadyiwa naSara.’ Zvakadaro zvinoonekwa kuti pane mamwe madzimai anoburitsa zviri kutsi kwemoyo yawo munyaya dzerudo achishandisa rurimi rwechichiRungu. Madzimai akaita saPrimrose Dzenga naEve Nyemba vanonyatsobudisa shuviro…
Dexter Zvicha is a fiction writer and political nerd. He is an MA and MPA graduate of the University of Delaware. He is interested in exploring the wild, grotesque and beautiful through poetry and short fiction. You can see more of his work on his blog thelitepassenger.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter @LitePassenger. The young…
The judges for the 2015 Writivism Short Story competition have been announced. The panel is chaired by Chika Unigwe who alongside Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Rachael Zadok, Tendai Huchu and Ainehi Edoro will judge this year’s competition. CHIKA UNIGWE (@chikaunigwe) Chika Unigwe is a Nigerian-born writer who writes in English and Dutch. Born (1974) and raised in…
Title: African Roar 2014 ; Publisher: StoryTime (Edited by Ivor Hartmann) Reviewed by Ronald Odamolekun Probably, the most phenomenal feature of this anthology is that a majority of its writers are young, mostly men in their twenties yearning for expression. They are nurturing much passion for writing in arguably the most difficult of all…
Our latest fiction feature is a short story entitled “It All Became Like Poetry” by Mwinji Siame, who holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Relations (Honours) from the University of Cape Town. She was born in Zambia but has lived in South Africa for the last sixteen years. Prominent themes in her fictional…
Wise was born in Bamenda, North West Cameroon, where part of growing up involved reading most of the novels in his father’s small library. His short story entitled ‘Devils’ won third prize at the 2014 Writivism International Short Story Contest held in Kampala, Uganda, where he also took part in the Writers’ Studio Workshop. He…
Accra, Ghana – Golden Baobab has announced the judges for the 2014 Golden Baobab Prizes. Established to inspire the writing and publishing of African stories that captivate the minds of children, the prizes award $20,000 to talented African writers and illustrators. It also offers publishing and training opportunities to its honorees. The 2014…
