Charles Mungoshi

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Charles Mungoshi
Charles Mungoshi
BornCharles Lovemore Mungoshi
(1947-12-02)December 2, 1947
DiedFebruary 16, 2019(2019-02-16) (aged 71)
Harare
NationalityZimbabwe
Alma materUniversity of Zimbabwe
Occupation
  • Actor
  • Novelist
Spouse(s)Jesesi Mungoshi
ChildrenCharles Mungoshi Junior

Charles Lovemore Mungoshi was a Zimbabwean novelist. He wrote in both English and Shona and is most known for his novels that include Coming of the Dry Season, Waiting for the rain, Makunun'unu Maodzamoyo and Ndiko Kupindana Kwemazuva.

He died at 71 on 16 February 2019.

Background

Mungoshi was born on 2 December 1947 and was married to Jesesi Mungoshi. The couple has a son named Charles Mungoshi Junior.[1]
He attended Daramombe Secondary School.

Career

Mungoshi stated that he began to develop an insatiable thirst of writing short stories and poems whilst he was still in primary school. He attended All Saints Mission and then Daramombe where he skipped Standard 2.[2] He argued that his first poem was inspired by Siphiwe, a girl who sat next to him in class when they were in primary school.[3] Since then, he began to write poems and short stories and one of his short stories, The Love Story was published in the school magazine and by this time he was in high school. From then on, it was published in a commercial magazine in the then Salisbury (present day Harare).[3] After completing his studies, he joined the Forestry Commission.[4]

In 1970, Mungoshi published his first novel, Makunun'unu Maodzamoyo.[5] During this time, he was employed at the Textbook Sales and later he joined the Literature Bureau up until 1981 as an editor.[4] From 1982 to 1985, he was a writer-in-residence at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). From being at the UZ, he went to the University of Durban where he was also a writer-in-residence.[2]

In 1996, he worked as a Resource Person at Groningen Children’s Book Year Workshop in the Netherlands.[5] In 2000 he was a visiting lecturer at the University of Florida in the United States of America where he was also a lecture in the department of African Studies.[5] In 2003, he received an honorary doctorate degree (Doctor of Letters-Dlitt) from the UZ.[5]

Mungoshi was part of the casting crew of the popular local dramas namely Ndabvezera which was produced by Aaron Chiundura Moyo, Zivakwawakabva, Makunun'unu Maodzamoyo (adapted from the novel) and Julius Ceasar.[5]

Health Problems

In April 2010, Mungoshi suffered from a stroke which nearly paralysed him.[6] Rumours circulated more than once that he was dead. In 2013, he published Branching Streams Flow in the Dark signaling his return to the world of literature.[7]


Publications

  1. Makunun'unu Maodzamoyo (1970)
  2. Coming of the Dry Season (1972
  3. Ndiko Kupindana Kwemazuva (How Time Passes) (1975)
  4. Waiting For the Rain (1975)
  5. Inongova Njakenjake (1980)
  6. Some Kind of Wounds (1980)
  7. The Milkman Doesn't Only Deliver Milk (anthology) (1981)
  8. Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura (1983)
  9. The Setting Sun and The Rolling World (1987)
  10. Stories From A Shona Childhood (1989)
  11. One Day Long Ago (1991)
  12. The Axe (1995)
  13. Gwatakwata (1995)
  14. Walking Still (1997)
  15. Writing Still (2004) an anthology in with Mungoshi's poems
  16. Branching Streams Flow in the Dark (2013)

Awards

  1. International PEN Awards (1975,1981 and 1998)
  2. Noma Honorable Awards For Publishing in Africa (1980, 1984, 1990 and 1992)
  3. Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best Book in Africa for The Setting Sun and The Rolling World (1988)
  4. Received 7 awards at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair's 75 Best Books in Zimbabwe for 7 of his books (2004)[6]
  5. National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA)Silver Jubilee Award (2006)


References

  1. Charles Mungoshi Jnr Goes Regional, New Zimbabwe, Published: November 10, 2011, Retrieved: July 15, 2015
  2. 2.0 2.1 WINZ, Dr. Charles Mungoshi Seeks Assistance to Self-Publish Latest Novel, Writers International Network Zim, published:3 Oct 2012, retrieved:22 July 2014
  3. 3.0 3.1 Mai Palmberg, Charles Mungoshi, The Nordic Africa Institute, Published:30 Sep 2013, Retrieved:22 July 2014
  4. 4.0 4.1 Charles Mungoshi, African Books Collective, Published: No date given, Retrieved:22 July 2014
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Memory Chirere, Charles Mungoshi “and other writers”, Bit Stream, Retrieved: 22 July 2014
  6. 6.0 6.1 Problem Masau, Author Charles Mungoshi on the mend, Nehanda Radio, Published:14 Feb 2013, Retrieved:22 July 2014
  7. Stanley Mushava, Charles Mungoshi’s genius manifests, The Herald, Published:7 Oct 2013, Retrieved:22 July 2014

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