Sauti’s debut anthology is like ‘seasoning salt’

Beaven Tapureta Bookshelf

Lazarus Sauti belongs to a growing family of Zimbabwean journalists who are displaying their distinctive gifts in different literary genres like poetry and fiction.

His new anthology of Shona stories and poems titled “Nei?” (2017, Royalty Books) will enchant the reader with its power of linguistic style and ideas. The anthology is imbued with twenty seven poems and five stories.

Sauti is a Zimbabwean journalist now not only identified as a journalist but a poet and short story writer. “Nei?”, edited by fellow journalist and Shona novelist Tinashe Muchuri, hit the shelves this month and adds some ‘seasoning salt’ to the end-of-year reading euphoria as more new books by Zimbabwean writers based in and outside the country continue to be published.

The last few weeks have seen new books coming, almost filling up Bookshelf’s cavity of most recent releases which now include “Perfect Imperfections” (2017, DarlingKind Publishing) by Prosper W Makara, “Imagine Ghosts Telling Tales in Front of Smoky Mirrors” (2017, Quen Press) by UK-based Shingirai L Masunda, and “Life at The Compound” (2017) by Tsiga Tichafa.

Abel Mavura’s new self-published motivational book “The Art of Realizing Your Dream” (2017) was launched in Harare last week and Bookshelf is yet to get more information. Meanwhile, Masunda recently told Bookshelf that his book, “Imagine Ghosts Telling Tales in Front of Smoky Mountains”, released in the UK on November 6, is “a fictional memoir exploring a writer’s quest for literary recognition” and it also deals with some religio-cultural issues.

The story, he said, is based in Zimbabwe. Quen Press’ commissioning editor Paula Comley is optimistic that Masunda’s book will build him a “strong fan base”. We are patiently waiting for the book to arrive soon in Zimbabwe.

Now back to the anthology “Nei?”, Sauti’s poems and stories ring with outcries for African freedom and reclamation of its heritage, environmental awareness, and the pieces also show the shame brought upon African people for neglecting their true cultural values.

Themes such as corruption, the marginalisation of dissent and the evils of some of the modern ‘commercial’ churches are also investigated. The author, playing the advisor, also digs into various other moral and cultural issues while educating the African youth.

Lazarus Sauti seems to have fallen in love with this anthologizing format which puts together poetry and fiction in alternation. The “mixing” of the two genres in one book produces its own “transitive” rhythm like the sound-mixing which other artists create in their studios. Sauti also further experiments with this ‘mixing’ by fusing song lyrics into his fiction.

For instance, the short story “Misungo” which psychologically deals with two corrupt characters, unfolds in an office while some anti-corruption music plays in the background. What’s more, lyrics of music played at a party in “Zvibereko Zvekutenda” merge very well with the story’s theme. Tendesai and Tererai throw a party for their auntie VaMarunjeya just to thank her for her motherly love and kindness that propelled them to great success in life.

The personae in some of the poems are voices of a people pleading with their African ancestors and elders to remember them in their struggles. In “Simuka” the voice is strongly urging its motherland to rise and reclaim its heritage for the sake of future generations:

“Africa,

Simuka uonekere.

Mira panzvimbo vana vawane pekubata

Simuka uchengetedze nhaka yevana, Africa!”

The proper cultural process of marrying which must be founded on love is lost in the exciting story “Zvanikowo” in which two young people “fall in love and get married” in a matter of hours.

The author is intent on showing how in these modern times lust has been mistaken for love. Not only has culture diminished in the way we conduct our relationships or marriages but also in terms of what we eat. We have neglected our nutritious traditional foods. Hear the persona in the poem “Tauraya Rudzi” complaining that:

“Chikafu takuda pizza kwete rupiza...”

The question-and-answer piece titled “Ndaibhadharwa Kufambisa Minana: Delight Munjanja” and one of the poems called “Hii!” confirm that the issue of false prophets in Zimbabwe has become extremely puzzling that many new authors are tackling it to show how it has impacted on certain aspects of our life.

However, to call “Ndaibhadharwa Kufambisa Minana: Delight Munjanja” a short story would be misleading but it is a realistic interview which through Delight’s confessions exposes the evil crowd-pulling tricks of a certain false prophet.

Truly, the interview is too realistic it seems to exist outside the author’s imagination. In another fresh anthology “Outside The Garden of Eden” which Bookshelf talked about last week, there is a short story by Nkosiyazi Kan Kanjiri which includes mention of the anointed ball-point pen, the same reference to this anointed writing tool is coincidentally found in Sauti’s poem “Hii!”.

“Munguva yatiri kurarama ino,

Munyika muzere nenhema…

Vamwe vachivimbisa zvinyoreso zvakazodzwa,

Kwanzi zvinopasisa mazama.

Tatovhiringika, minana here kana kuti Manyepo...”

While Sauti shows in his stimulating Shona writing a profound belief in his African roots, a number of pieces in the anthology are somewhat based on the Bible teachings highlighting good morals for both men and women.

(c) Herald, November 23, 2017.