Brief Biography:

Batsirai E Chigama is a name largely associated with spoken word in Zimbabwe.  She writes short stories and has been published in several poetry anthologies and magazines.  Her passion to see the arts fully represented in the media has seen her contribute numerous stories to the most popular arts website in Zimbabwe, The Zimbojam.  To read more of her works go to http://www.batsiraichigama.maumbile.com.

GeosiReads: Let me start off by asking about the current state of Zimbabwean Women Writers?

Batsirai Chigama:   When Flora Veit Wild profiled poets in 1988 in her book Patterns of Poetry, she only had one woman poet, Kristina Rungano against 6 men.  I should say women’s voices in literary Zimbabwe have increased since then.  We have noted  the emergence of new voices like Ethel Kabwato, Joyce Chigiya, Fungai Machirori, Blessing Musariri, Primrose Dzenga and have other strong performance poets such as Aura Kawanzaruwa, Wadzanai Chiuriri, Cynthia Marangwanda, Roxanne ‘Xapa’ Mathazia just to name a few.  In short the future of Zimbabwean women writers looks very bright.

GR: You hold several positions in the literary circle in Zimbabwe. What is/are your main goal(s) with your association with these literary groups? Have any been realized?

BC: What the literary circles have done for me is open me to thinking outside myself…the interaction with other writers always has an edifying element for me and it is from that fellowship that  I’ve been  shaped to become the poet I am  today.

GR: According to many critics, a lot of writings coming from Zimbabwe are based on criticisms of the Mugabe-led administration. What is your position on this?

BC: Martin Goodman, a British writer once said, “You can be in the middle of a war with bombs exploding everywhere and still choose to evade the contemporary” what he was saying is as a writer one has a choice, to let events dictate the discourse one has with the environment or one can dictate what they want to write on, I opt for the latter, always.

GR: You have written a number of poems and done a lot of performances. Are you more inclined to poetry than to short stories or novels?

BC: Writing poetry comes with an extra effort whereas; short stories ‘write me’.  Once I get a storyline I am good to go but those moments are rare and therefore the short stories I’ve written very few.

GR: Is there any distinction between writing poems and performing them?

BC: The processes grove into each other in that when I write I determine if a poem is a performance piece by the rhythm I lend to it when spoken, so it’s a synchronized effort.

GR: I read and enjoyed your poem Independence Avenue. The last line carried a strong message: ‘Wings to carry our voices to that place called independence avenue’. To whom where you addressing this to? What inspired the poem? When was it even written?

BC: I stand to be corrected but I think independence is not a destination…we never arrive at it.  You think at some point you’ve found it but then you start fighting other prejudices, limitations and hegemonies within that ‘achieved’ freedom.  I wrote this poem in September 2010 questioning the idea of finding independence.

GR: So in that sense, Zimbabwe has not yet ‘achieved’ independence? Is independence then meaningless?

BC: In a sense it becomes intangible, I don’t want to call it a case of ‘from the pot into the fire” because that too is far from being true but rather that Zimbabwe has had its share of struggles especially in the past twelve years and we have entered an era where many like myself may have started to question what independence is or what happened to it if ever it had been achieved.

GR: How long does it take you to write a single poem?

BC: It varies, some poems especially for performance are never complete, I am constantly re-writing them, they cannot afford to be stagnant in meaning; there is poems that come titles first, those for me are the difficult ones, I will tell you there is one I’ve been trying to finish for the past three months, started in February and still I haven’t finished it.

GR: Where and when do you often write?

BC:  Inspiration has no decency, it comes in the most awkward of places so I have to carry a notepad or my phone so that I do not lose that sudden flash of that one sentence or verse as it comes to me.

GR: Another poem of yours, ‘Through the Eyes of Julius’ was written in memory of the great Zimbabwean writer Julius Chingono. Did you ever meet him personally?

BC: I did and I feel very privileged to have met this beautiful writer.  Julius was a very accessible person without airs and pretenses even in his work and I strongly admired that in him.

GR: Where does your passion for writing come from?

BC: It comes from wanting to share a story, that alone and nothing more.

GR: Any writers that inspire you?

BC: Chenjerai Hove, Ignatius Mabasa, Yvonne Vera, Fungai Machirori, Maya Angelou, Khaled Hosseini…the list is very long

GR: With the current state of affairs in Zimbabwe– say – economic and government leadership, is it profitable to work as a writer?

BC: Profitability of writing to me was never tied to the state of political issues albeit the fact that politics has a hand in the existence of restrictive censorship laws, it is instead tied to how one handles their art, it’s either you do it as a hobby – of which you don’t expect much out it or as a business in which you have to apply yourself to making a dollar at every turn save if you are giving yourself to charity causes.

GR: How would you like to be called – Poet or Writer? 

BC:  I don’t mind at all what I am called.

END.

I think am getting there, where having too much fun just gets to me and I want to go some place quiet & hide.  I think a lot of people need a holiday after a full HIFA experience, there is so much going on, too much in fact.  I had a beautiful experience though yesterday at the HIVOS Poetry Cafe.   The big dharaz in poetry, the ones I looked up to and still look up to for inspiration, Chiedza Musengezi, amazing woman, crazy if i may add.  The gentleness of her words and the humor in her poetry left me awed.  Memory Chirere, left me no choice but to love some more just being African.  To close the show was Oneness Sankara from England, i need to have the kind of hard drive she has in her head because i think mine just has minimal storage.   Might head there later tonight just to have some of that fun…come drag me out of me hole friends.

And did I tell you my designer Sabina Mutsvati did the costumes for the HIFA opening night?   She went on to do this crazy exhibition yesterday at the First Floor Gallery dubbed “Vasikan Vedu” which i was part of.  Will give you the story in pictures soon.  Sabina Mutsvati, you have unbelievably mad talent.

When Flora Veit Wild profiled poets in 1988 in her book Patterns of Poetry, she only had one woman poet, Kristina Rungano pitted against 6 men. I should say women’s voices in literary Zimbabwe have increased since then. We have noted the emergence of new voices like Ethel Kabwato, Joyce Chigiya, Fungai Machirori, Blessing Musariri, Primrose Dzenga and have other strong performance poets such as Aura Kawanzaruwa, Barbara Anderson, Wadzanai Chiuriri, Cynthia Marangwanda, Roxanne ‘Xapa’ Mathazia just to name a few. Some of these women will be performing during HIFA, 1-6 May.

Meet Zim’s women Spoken Word Artists at HIFA:

Chiedza Musengezi

 Bio & Photo Courtesy Of Weaver Press)

Chiedza Musengezi has co-edited compilations of women’s voices with: Women of Resilence (Zimbabwe Women Writers, Harare, 2000), Women Writing Africa, The Southern Region (Feminist Press, New York, 2003) and A Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe (Weaver Press, Harare, 2003). Her short stories and poetry have been anthologised locally and internationally. She taught in Ireland and she currently works for Legal Resources Foundation in Harare. Chiedza was published in Writing Still (2003), Writing Now (2005) and Women Writing Zimbabwe (2008).Former director at Zimbabwe Women Writers, she spent a few year in Ireland and returned home in 2011. Chiedza Performs at Poetry Cafe on 2 & 3 May 2-3pm on both days.

Batsirai E Chigama

Not new to HIFA, Batsirai has gained recognition in the spoken word community of Zimbabwe as well as Southern Africa. She has performed at several festivals and has been featured in five poetry anthologies to date. She also writes short stories and contributes to Zimbojam the most popular arts website in Zimbabwe.  Catch up with her at the Poetry Cafe on 2 May, as well as Sunday 6 May, 2-5pm on both days.

Barbara “Breeze” Anderson

Barbra Breeze Anderson is a poet, writer and designer. She started the art of performing in the year 2007 at the ‘Power In The Voice Competition’, a British Council sponsored event where she performed a short prose piece. Barbara has performed at the House of Hunger poetry slam at the Book Cafe,Sistaz Open Mic & Mashoko Spoken Word Events. Barbra is now working on various projects, one that she has put into effect is a monthly Poetry night event called ‘Poetry And’ launched in April 2011 where poetry is fused with different genres of art. She performs at HIFA on 1May at 2pm & 5 May at 11am at the Poetry Cafe.

Fungai Machirori

Fungai Machirori is a poet, short story writer and trained journalist. She has been writing poetry since about the age of 11 when she first entered a poem for the Bulawayo schools literary eisteddfod competition and received a second class certificate for one of her poems.

In 2005, Fungai (aged 20) was the youngest participant in the British Council Crossing Borders Literary Project – a project partnering local artists with British based mentors. Fungai went on to achieve a second place award in the national Intwasa Short Story Competition. She has since been published in two Zimbabwean short story anthologies and in 2010, was one of the featured poets in the Wales-published anthology ‘Sunflowers In Your Eyes’, a collection of poetry from four female Zimbabwean poets. Catch her debut appearance at HIFA Poetry Cafe on 1 & 2 May.

Other poets performing on different platforms include Wadzanai Chiuriri popularly known as Black Pearl as well as Aura Kawanzaruwa.

This week I am featured on the Badilisha Poetry portal, http://badilishapoetry.com/radio/batsirai-e-chigama alongside three other exceptionally talented poets , Bulelwa Basse from South Africa, T.J Anderson from the USA, and Chief Moomen from Ghana.

Badilisha Poetry X-Change was conceived to celebrate the diversity of languages, cultures and styles of presenting poetry and to platform poetry as a performance art. Its mandate is to expose and support aspirant, as well as established, poetic voices, grow audiences and their appreciation for divergent poetic forms, facilitate networking, dialogue and learning opportunities between African and African Diaspora poets and poetry lovers, and to provide the means and opportunity to platform poetry focused on and dedicated to social change.

If you would like to be featured on Badilisha Radio, then please submit your MP3 and biographical information for consideration. (They don’t charge a fee for submissions to Badilisha Poetry Radio. Before submitting your poems, please visit http://badilishapoetry.com/submission-info-podcast/ for guidelines)

March has been a month of mixed fortunes and in seeking that light to illuminate the dark aura around my life I’ve had to be in continual pursuance of positive energies to ground myself personally as well as in believing things can only get better.

Through Shantaram I have discovered the great story teller who is Gregory David Roberts, in Dreams of Flight the phenomenal woman, Myesha Jenkins…amazing how your poetry spoke to me Myesha, thank you.

Fungai James Tichawangana called me miss-busy-performing everywhere just yesterday, March has also been a month of giving myself to the craft of performance.  8 March saw me perform at the Prince Claus Award Presentation ceremony organized by the Embassy of Netherlands for the Book Cafe.  On the 9th I was at Rainbow Towers performing with jazz musician Dudu Manhenga Muparutsa & the Cool Crooners as we celebrated Dudu’s journey as a musician in a show dubbed Rites of Passage: Dudu Manhenga’s Journey.

In a conversation around the works of Dambudzo Marechera I was honored to perform at the Zimbabwe German Society at the “Re-visiting Dambudzo Marechera: Old Texts Brought to Life” event.  An interaction between scholars, poets and literary lovers.   Memory Chirere read the preface to Amelia poems and read his own short story “Ariko” from his collection Tudikidiki, While Samm Monro aka Comrade Fatso and I did poetry dedicated to the celebrated writer. Biko Mutsaurwa from the Toyi-Toyi Arts Collective also engaged with Marechera’s poem “Throne of Bayonets” which he translated into Shona language.  What to me was amazing is the almost gentle side of Marechera reflected through ‘Amelia Poems’ that I never thought existed.

Catch me in Bulawayo on the 7th April at the Mlom’ Wakho Poetry Slam and HIFA 1-6 May.

PROGRAMME JULIUS CHINGONO HOMAGE

Venue: Theatre in the Park

Date: 8^th February

Time: 6/6.30pm to 8pm

MC: Michael Kudakwashe

6.30: Welcome remarks by the MC and presentation of the Ambassador of Spain, H.E. Pilar Fuertes Ferragut

6.35: Words by the Ambassador of Spain, H.E. Pilar Fuertes Ferragut

6.40: Guest of honor: a representation of the Ministery of Education, Art and Culture, presented by the MC

6.45: Words by Murray Mc Cartney from Weaver Press, presented by the MC

6.50: Reciting of 5 poems

- Batsirai Chigama “Through the eyes of Julius”

- Tinashe Muchari “Wakatisiira iyi nhaka”

- Rumbi Katedza “For all season” (poem written by Mr. Chirikure Chirikure)

- Larry Kwirirayi “Trash-heap thoughts”

- Rumbi Katedza “Waiting for the bus” (poem written by Mr. John Eppel)

7.00: Song of Chikwata 263 (tbc)

7.05: Reciting of 6 poems

- Trust Mutekwa “Julius Chingono”

- Mbizo Chirasa “Tribute to African Writers”

- Fungai Machirori “Grief is not”

- Josiah Mawoyo “Letter to Julius”

- Murray Mc Cartney “Insanity” (poem written by Mr. Mgcini Nyoni, 30 seconds)

- Batsirai Chigama “Ode to Julius Chingono” (poem written by Mrs.Virginia Phiri)

7.15: Performance of Chingono´s diaries by Walter Muparutsa

7.25: Memories: Reciting of 2 Chingono´s poems and two anecdotes of Chingono

- First poem “Dai” recited by Lloyd Machacha

- Second poem “My uniform” recited by Keith Mushonga

- First anecdote by Comrade Fatso

- Second anecdote by Togara Muzanhenamo

7.35: Vote of thanks by Marina García, Cultural Attachée Embassy of Spain

7.37: Cocktail

Call for Submissions for the 4th FEMRITE Regional Women Writers’ Residence November 2012

Uganda Women Writers Association (FEMRITE) calls for submissions for her 4th Regional Women Writers Residence to be held in November 2012. This is an inspiring initiative that brings together upcoming African women writers. The main objectives of the residency are:

• To bring established writers to mentor upcoming African women writers
• To give upcoming Ugandan women writers the opportunity to interact with women writers from the continent
• To give African women writers conducive space and time pursue their writing projects
• To create opportunities for inter-cultural discourse among women writers
• To strengthen collaboration among women writers’ initiatives in Africa
• To generate short stories for publication in an anthology

At the end of the residence, we expect the writers to have:

• had mentoring sessions with an established writer
• improved at least one of their writing projects
• enriched each other’s manuscripts through discussion
• submitted their improved short story for the residency anthology

How to apply

Interested women are required to submit;

• Part of a novel / short Story collection in WORD document (40 pages, typed in Times New Roman, font 12, 1.5 spacing).

• A short story for publication in the residency anthology
• A brief bio (not more than 10 lines)

This call is open to African women living on the continent. Writers already attached to writers groups in their countries are encouraged to apply.

Deadline for submissions is 30th April 2012

Please Note:

1. All applicants will receive notification by email once their manuscripts are received.
2. The Residency targets 15 writers
3. The Residency will last two weeks in November 2012
4. Successful applicants will be notified by 30th August 2012.
5. Successful published applicants will be kindly requested to donate copies of their works to the FEMRITE Resource Centre
6. Applicants should not have published more than one book.
7. FEMRITE will solicit support to meet costs of travel, accommodation, & meals.

For inquiries and submissions, please email info@femriteug.org