The Daily Mirror
www.dailymirror.co.zw
14.10.05

Weaver Press launches new books
Laura Chiweshe
issue date :2005-Oct-14

A LOCAL publishing house, Weaver Press, on Tuesday launched the much-awaited anthology of short stories Writing Now and novel The Chairman of Fools by a renowned and distinguished author Shimmer Chinodya of the Harvest of Thorns fame.
Writing Now, a sequel to the award winning Writing Still published by the same publisher last year, is a new collection of stories painting an ‘engaging and sometimes challenging picture of contemporary life and concerns in Zimbabwe’, reads the back cover of this new collection.
This anthology of short stories demonstrates that it is in the gloomiest and darkest times that Zimbabwean authors churn out the most interesting and remarkable literature.
Although written from the background of the country’s economic woes and political chaos, the stories are not short of acute humour and creative artistry.
Like its predecessor Writing Still, Writing Now is also a mixture of veteran writers such as Shimmer Chinodya, Charles Mungoshi and William (Bill) Saidi with a new generation of writers taking the literary scene by storm such as Ignatius Mabasa, (Ruzvidzo) Stanley Mupfudza and Vivienne Ndlovu as well as completely new voices in literary circles, the likes of Andrew Aresho, Lawrence Hoba and Farai Mpofu.
Speaking at the launch, Chinodya, whose novel Chairman of Fools was also being launched, wittingly and humorously spoke of the pitfalls of being a writer.
“Writing is one of the most miserable activities. I’ve done it for 35 years, scribbling away at night. Sometimes, sitting in a little office, you don’t know such a number of people will assemble to witness the launch and buy your books to read what you write about,” Chinodya said.
Chinodya penned the award winning Harvest of Thorns, Dew in the Morning, Farai’s Girls, Child of War and Can We Talk and Other Stories which was short-listed for the Caine Prize in 2000.
Guest of honour at the launch, veteran writer, poet and academic, Musaemura Zimunya hailed Weaver Press for being torchbearers in the publishing industry at a time when most publishers are shunning creative writing.
Despite the difficult economic period Zimbabwe is currently going through, Weaver Press has grown from strength to strength, publishing books in the fields of women and law, literature history and politics, society and development and books for young people.
Some of their most outstanding works include, Walking Still by Charles Mungoshi, Writing Still by various authors, Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe edited by Chiedza Musengezi, Girls on the Streets, Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business, The Assassination of Herbert Chitepo among many others.