Sandisile Tshuma's short-listing covered by Zimbo Jam and others

The short-listing of Sandisile Tshuma's short story Arrested Development, first published in Long Time Coming: Short Writings from Zimbabwe, for the Thomas Pringle Award has been covered by various newspapers and websites, including Zimbo Jam. Zimbo Jam noted the impressive list of previous winners of the award, including Nadine Gordimer and John M Coetzee.

The Zimbo Jam article can be found at

http://www.zimbojam.com/culture/literary-news/2046-bulawayo-writer-shortlisted-for-prestigious-thomas-pringle-award.html

The short-listing is also covered in News Day, in The Chronicle and in The Zimbabwean

http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2010-12-06-zim-writer-shortlisted-for-top-award

http://www.chronicle.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=14401&cat=3

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36216:zim-writer-shortlisted-for-prestigious-award-&catid=70:sunday-issue

Sandisile Tshuma Shortlisted for Thomas Pringle Award

Sandisile Tshuma's short story, Arrested Development, has been shortlisted for the Thomas Pringle Award. The story first appeared in Long Time Coming: Short Writings from Zimbabwe, and was then reproduced in the Longhorn collection When the Sun Goes Down for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and in the South African literary journal Wordsetc.

Sandisile was born and raised in Bulawayo. She returned to the city after three years studying Chemical, Molecular and Cellular Sciences at the University of Cape Town, to study Development and Disaster Management at the National University of Science and Technology. She has a keen interest in human rights and is currently engaged as a Programme Associate for the UNESCO East and Southern Africa EDUCAIDS programme. Arrested Development, her first and only published short story, looks with humour at the struggle to survive in Zimbabwe through the eyes of a student researching an essay on cross-border trading.

The Thomas Pringle Award, organised by the English Academy of Southern Africa, is for the best short story published in a newspaper, journal or periodical. The other shortlisted writers are Stephen Watson (Professor in English and Director of the Creative Writing Centre at the University of Cape Town), Liesl Jobson (South African poet and musician, winner of the Inglis House Poetry Contest and editor of the magazine Mad Hatters' Review), Arja Salafranca (South African writer and poet, editor of the Life supplement of The Sunday Independent, winner of a Sanlam Award for Poetry(1994) and for short fiction(1999), and winner of the 2009 Dalro Award for poetry) and Gail Dendy (South African contemporary dancer and poet with six collections to her name, with 5 university degrees).

Julius Chingono and John Eppel soon to be published by 'amaBooks

The next publication by 'amaBooks is to be Together, a collection of short stories and poems by two of Zimbabwe's leading writers, Julius Chingono and John Eppel.

The collection, which will include 25 poems and 8 short stories by Julius and 24 poems and 11 short stories by John, will be published in early 2011.

Nadifa Mohamed enjoys Long Time Coming

"I have finally finished Long Time Coming: Short Writings from Zimbabwe; it travelled with me to Somaliland, Australia and Norway! I loved the insight it gave into everyday life in Zimbabwe; the bus rides, weddings, rivalries that go on despite political unheavals. It is a crucial addition to what we hear about Zimbabwe from the minds of writers intimately connected to the country. I especially enjoyed Monireh Jassat's A Lazy Sunday Afternoon, Petina Gappah's The Cracked, Pink Lips of Rosie's Bridegroom, Mathew Chokuwenga's 10 Lanigan Avenue and Linda Msebele's The Chicken Bus."

Nadifa Mohamed's debut novel, Black Mamba Boy won the 2010 Betty Trask Prize, is shortlisted for the 2010 Guardian First Book Award and has been shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Set in 1930s Somalia, the novel charts one boy's long walk to freedom through dangerous, conflict ridden EastAfrica, based on the true story of the author's father's life.

Christopher Mlalazi's Election Day at Theatre in the Park

Christopher Mlalazi's play Election Day is to run at Harare's Theatre in the Park from 10 to 27 November at 5.30pm and at 7.30pm each day, except Sundays and Mondays. The short story Election Day on which the play is based appears in Chris' award-winning collection Dancing with Life: Tale from the Township. The book is available in many outlets in Bulawayo and Harare, including just across Harare Gardens from the theatre at the National Gallery, for $8.

Outside of Zimbabwe, the book is available through many online outlets and can be read as an ebook in the USA through www.scribd.com.

"It is election time. His Excellency, Poka Oka Ndiseng’s ruling party is losing by a very wide margin in the polls. His wife, Samantha, and his personal advisor, Twenty, have both panicked and they are urging Ndiseng to flee the country, but an adamant Ndiseng tells them he is not going anywhere..."

The photograph is of the play's director Eunice Tava, twice winner of a National Arts Merit Award for Outstanding Actress.

The Zimbo Jam article about the play can be found at http://www.zimbojam.com/film-tv-a-theatre/theatrically-speaking/1927-christopher-mlalazi-play-premieres-at-theatre-in-the-park.html

Bulawayo poets featured on Poetry International website

The work of seven Bulawayo poets is featured on this month's Poetry International website. Four of the seven have been published by 'amaBooks: Deon Marcus has had poems in each of the four books in the Short Writings series and his collection Sonatas won the 2005 National Arts Merit Award for Best First Book and the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association award for Poetry and Drama; Shari Eppel's poem Bhalagwe was first published in Short Writings from Bulawayo; Mgcini Nyoni's When We Were Young and Mthabisi Phili's Sunset In Mzilikazi were both published in Intwasa Poetry.

Information about the poets and samples of their work appear on:

http://zimbabwe.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=18083

UK Publishing Deal for Bryony Rheam

Zimbo Jam reports the publishing deal between 'amaBooks and Parthian Books that will result in Bryony Rheam's This September Sun being available in UK bookshops in 2011.

The article also reports that This September Sun is now available online in South Africa through www.porcupinepress.co.za and that it is available as an ebook in the USA through www.scribd.com.

The article can be found at http://www.zimbojam.com/culture/literary-news/1877-uk-publishing-deal-for-bryony-rheam.html

The UK publishing deal for This September Sun is also reported in The Zimbabwean:

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=35036:bryony-rheam-gets-uk-book-deal