Hello, I am Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure


An introduction

I am a bilingual poet, novelist, librettist, short story writer, translator and visual artist

I have published a poetry collection in chiKaranga, Zvadzugwa Musango, which I translated into English as Uprooted; a novel Painting a Mirage; and another poetry collection, Starfish Blossoms, which won the National Arts Merit Award for Outstanding Poetry Book in 2023. Some of my poems appear in Ipikai Poetry Journal, and my visual art in Writing Woman Anthology – An anthology of African Asian Writers and Artists Vol.3 published by Mwanaka Media and Publishing. 

I established an independent press in 2020, Carnelian Heart Publishing, to amplify the voices of Zimbabwean writers. As editor and publisher, I have published various works comprising literary prose and poetry, including two anthologies of short stories by Zimbabwean writers – Turquoise Dreams and Brilliance of Hope, of which I contributed two short stories to the latter – ‘Barcode’ and ‘Tariro’; and an anthology of poems by Zimbabwean women - Tesserae,  to which I contributed six poems. 

I was born in the district of Barking and Dagenham (London) in 1981, to Zimbabwean parents who were studying in the United Kingdom and returned to Zimbabwe a couple of years after independence. My father is of Karanga origin and my late mother was Zezuru. I am therefore fluent in Chikaranga, Chizezuru and English languages. I spent my childhood in Masvingo, Zimbabwe where I completed my education at Victoria Primary School and Victoria High Boarding School respectively. I returned to the United Kingdom in 1999 after completing my A levels. I studied Law and Business Administration at the University of Kent in Canterbury and proceeded to study a Postgraduate Diploma in European Politics, Business and Law at the University of Surrey. I work as a regulatory consultant within financial services, and live with my husband and our two children in rural South Wales. In addition to be being a visual artist...

I write poetry and prose to...
Advocate:
• human equality, diversity and inclusion
• rights of women and children
• rights and welfare of immigrants
• mental health
• preservation of vernacular languages 

Raise awareness of:
• abuse and gender-based violence
• bullying and its effects 

Empower those weakened by:
• abuse and inequality 
• static cultural and manipulative religious beliefs and practices 
• systems designed to further the dominant ideology of patriarchy 


My writing journey

I did not make a conscious decision to start writing. My life experiences compelled me to do so. I have always been a writer at heart, and I know this because:


As a child, I had a lot to say. I was nicknamed “Chitende” by my late paternal grandmother, for being an outspoken child. My outspokenness in a society where women were conditioned to be submissive, was indispensable music to my grandmother’s feminist ears. After her death, I lost my voice and became introverted. “Chitende” is a Shona word for calabash or gourd, which is used on percussion instruments in Africa as an amplifier. Mbira, Hosho and Marimba are examples of such Zimbabwean instruments. Ironically, percussion is a musical instrument that is sounded usually by being struck with a beater. Women who challenge the patriarchy are susceptible to misogyny, an unpleasant plight I have had to fight time and time again. Misogyny, as I learnt the hard way, is not simply the hatred of women. Instead, it’s about controlling and punishing women who challenge male dominance whilst rewarding women who reinforce the status quo. Such experiences made me find my voice, and I use my writing to advocate equality and raise awareness of hidden abuse;


I won the Masvingo regional prize for UNESCO sponsored Randall’s National Essay competition in Zimbabwe, when I was 16. Interestingly the subject of my essay was “Why read a book when you can watch television?”. Winning that competition opened other opportunities for me in my school where I later became president and chief editor of the school magazine club. It is unfortunate that I did not write for leisure after high school. I did go through a phase of poetry writing, but I found it difficult to share my writing publicly because exposing my inner thoughts and vulnerabilities is not something society expected from a woman. Instead, I entered the legal profession where I write formal documents to earn a living;


I do a lot of writing in my work as a governance, compliance and risk management consultant. Not only do I write training material, reports and opinions to senior committees and boards, but I appraise and edit other people’s work when I review and approve the financial promotions and communications to ensure they are compliant with regulatory requirements. Drafting of policies and procedures is also a task I live and breathe within my profession. Sounds pretty mundane right? That is precisely why I now find time to write for soulful reasons;

&

I have always known that I have a greater purpose in life. After many years of journeying within to find my true self, I found words flowing naturally to me. I want to use my writing skill to raise consciousness of issues we don’t usually think or talk about, yet are very important for the attainment of human equality, liberty, joy and inner peace.


Why I write in Shona and English


The promotion and preservation of vernacular languages is important to me, so I must write in Shona (not just English). Chikaranga, a dialect of the Shona language, is part of who I am. I am a fluent speaker and writer of both languages, which I studied at A level. It would make sense to make use of both languages, because I can.


In Zimbabwe, the Zezuru dialect is generally used in writing by the "Shona". As an advocate for equality, writing in Chikaranga presents to me an opportunity to promote and preserve the dialect. This will hopefully encourage speakers of other Shona dialects (and other languages such as Ndebele) to follow suit, in order to preserve and promote their own “mother tongues”, which are just as important.


Zimbabwean culture does not promote freedom of expression around sensitive topics. The limited vocabulary pertaining to taboo topics in Zimbabwean languages is reflective of this. As an advocate for equality, I use my writing to raise awareness of these issues, by thinking in English, finding ways of expressing the issues in Chikaranga, and then translating my vernacular expressions back to English. 

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