Publisher: Weaver Press, Zimbabwe
Pages: 156
Year: 2011
Category: Anthologies & Collections, Literature
Dimensions: 216 x 140 mm
Writing Free
In this fifth anthology of Zimbabwean short stories from Weaver Press fifteen writers respond to the topic of writing free, and offer their thoughts about how and why they wrote as they did. The stories reflect a wide variety of freedoms: from tyranny, from hunger, from abuse, from the shackles of tradition, and even from the traditional constraints of narrative convention. But there are cautionary tales, too. Political change may be liberating for the adults who suffered for it, but will their children share in the euphoria of new-found freedom? Will a departure from domestic poverty to the calm waters of the diaspora deliver all that was hoped for it? Is the grass always greener beyond the fence of a stifling marriage? Zimbabwe has had more than its share of social and material deprivation in recent years, and people’s responses have taken many forms. Writing Free offers an engaging and kaleidoscopic sample of these, and in doing so give an intimate portrait of a country in transition.
£25.00 – £27.00
About the editors
Irene Staunton began work in publishing in London in the 1970s. Returning to Zimbabwe after its independence, she became the editor at the government’s new Curriculum Development Unit. In 1987, she co-established Baobab Books, which rapidly acquired a reputation as an exciting literary publisher. In 1999, she left Baobab to co-found Weaver Press. She was also the editor of the Heinemann African Writers Series for several years. Staunton has also researched and compiled a number of oral histories including Mothers of the Revolution.
