Kennedy Mutore
GWERU — Award winning local author Ignatius Chamunorwa Musonza has published a new book in hybrid Shona language simply titled Chapwati.
The book becomes his 15th in a career spanning more than a decade.
The publication of this novel comes at a time when government has been promoting the country’s local indigenous languages recognising them as official languages.
The narration of the book, which is titled, Chapwati is in what the author terms hybrid-Shona.
“For a while now, I have been studying and grappling with putting a name on what to call the language people are now speaking in the streets and homes, mine included.
“It is neither pure Shona, siNdebele, Kalanga or Nambya perse, neither is it slang, English or Pigin. Perhaps fundi researchers would answer that one authoritatively.
“For me, the challenge was on whether I could effectively demonstrate it in a full story and Chapwati is the result,” he said.
The 97-page thriller novel Chapwati, which means a clap in the vernacular language, is narrated by two people.
A young man and middle-aged lady, who in a three day ordeal, are on the run and battling the same protagonists and the police.
The circumstances they meet force them to distrust and hate each other, yet they have to rely on each other for survival. With interesting lifestyles and professions, the two main characters have to eventually rely on their ingenuity, experiences and friends to survive.
“This fast paced novel is an exciting narrative of two genders narrative of the same incident at different intervals.
“At loggerheads and deep in their personal dilemmas, forced on them by societal norms and a challenging economy,” he said.
The action story is told from two antagonists’ view point, Chamu ‘Chapwati’ and Elizabeth ‘ Heliza.”
A book critic said the book teaches repentance and that enemies can become friends.
“Whatever wrong choice you make, you can change if you commit yourself to it,” said an avid novels reader.
Musonza has published several books, including a series of children’s books with different publishers. Some of the books include Tariro Abiwa, a Wall of Water and Stories from The East And West among others.
Musonza is a three time, National Arts Merit Awards, (NAMA), nominee and other international awards.
Musonza is a correspondent for national and regional newspapers, magazines and poetry journals.
He is the founder and chairperson of Gweru International Book Fair, (GIBF) and is actively involved in nurturing aspiring, young artists in different fields.
