Please join us in our first Zimbabwean Book festival. Please register for one or both events at the base of this page. You can also download the programme
The Zimbabwean Book Festival: Day 1, Friday 3, March [face to face]
Venue: 11 Bedford Square, London
Time: 2.00pm – 6.30pm GMT
Day 1 will be held in partnership with Royal Holloway University.
Format: face to face. The event is free. Please contact KChitiyo@chathamhouse.org
Day 1 Programme
2.00-2.15pm: Welcome and Introductions: Dr Knox Chitiyo, President, Britain Zimbabwe Society; Senior Associate Fellow, Chatham House; writer ;and Professor Tim Unwin CMG, Royal Holloway University; UNESCO Chair ICT4D; writer
2.15-3.30pm: Panel 1: Introducing New and Established Diasporan Writers and Publishers
Speaker 1: Dr Rhoda Molife, writer and book Editor; Team Leader, MSD pharmaceuticals .
Speaker 2: Prof Onyeka Nwelue, Director, James Currey International Literature Festival; writer and creative
Speaker 3;Farai Ian Muvuti, CEO, Southern African Times; media entrepreneur and writer
Chair: Prof Tim Unwin
3.30pm-4.30 pm: Keynote Session:
Speaker: Dumi Senda, Diversity Lead, BBC England; poet and childrens’ stories author
Chair: Dr Knox Chitiyo
4.30pm- 5.30 pm Panel 2: New Frontiers in Zimbabwean Writing
Speaker 1: Dr Kathy Mansfield Higgins, writer and Britain Zimbabwe Society Executive member
Speaker 2; Masimba Musodza, CEO Fairfield Media; novelist
Speaker 3: Portia Mushambi, writer, creative and finance professional
Chair:Dr Christopher Roy Zembe, De Montfort University; Lecturer, Editor and writer
5.30 pm- 6.30 pm: Networking /Close
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Zimbabwean Book Festival Day 2 Saturday 4 March [Virtual]
Time: 9.50 am – 5.00pm GMT/11.50 am – 7.00pm CAT
Format: Virtual. Free event
Registration via Eventbrite link provided; or contact Day 2 Eventbrite registrar Margaret Ling [BZS]
on margaret.ling@geo2.poptel.org.uk
Day 2 Programme
9.50 – 10.00 am: Welcome and Introduction: Dr Knox Chitiyo, President, BZS; Dr Kathy Mansfield Higgins, writer and BZS Executive member; Dorcas Gwata, writer and Head of Global Programmes, Florence Nightingale Foundation
10.00- 11.00 am Panel 1: On Writing
Speaker 1 Goddess Bvukutwa, Mambakwedza Women’s Centre; Editor, Zimrights
Speaker 2: Dr Nozipo Maraire, Zimbabwe Creative and Cultural Arts [ZICCA]; Founder, Ecosurgica; writer and patron of the Arts
Speaker 3: Dr Tinashe Mushakavanu, African Studies Centre, Oxford; writer and archivist
Chair: tba
11.00- 11.15 am: break
11.15 – 12.15 Panel 2: Fiction Writers and Their Work
Speaker 1: Lady Tshawe, author, musician and TV host
Speaker 2: Leonard Matsa, Zimbabwe Theatre Academy ;playwrght and actor
Speaker: 3: Batsirai Chigama and Tariro Ndoro, Editors, and poets ,Ipikai Poetry Journal
Chair: Rutendo Mutsamwira, writer, spoken word artiste and broadcaster
12.15 – 14.00; break in the Panel Sessions
13.15 -13.45 : Interactive Creative Writing Workshop sessions hosted by Dr Kathy Mansfield Higgins, BZS
1 Writing Short stories- Dr Kathy Mansfield Higgins
2 Playwriting- Teddy Mangawa , Zimbabwe Theatre Academy
14.00- 15.00:Panel 3: Oral Traditions and the Vernacular: In Conversation with...
Sue Nyathi, novelist and entrepreneur; and Dr Ignatius Mabasa,writer, storyteller and musician
Co-hosted by Pelagia Nyamayaro, Britain Zimbabwe Society; and Dumi Senda, Diversity Lead, BBC England
15.00-16.00:Panel 4: The Book Trade
Speaker 1: Stephanie Kitchen, Director, African Book Collective
Speaker 2: Tau Tawengwa, Editor, Harare Streets Publishing
Speaker 3: Dr Shamiso Madzivire, Midlands State University. Researcher and Writer.
Speaker 4 : Pat Brickhill, Britain Zimbabwe Society and co-Founder, Grassroots Books; and Tomas Brickhill, Director, The Book Cafe
Chair: Murray McCartney and Irene Staunton, Directors/Editors, Weaver Press
16.00-17.00: Spoken Word Open Mic
17.00: Closing: Dr Knox Chitiyo
On Eventbrite
The BZS is hosting its inaugural Zimbabwean Book Festival on 3 March (face
to face in Bedford Square, London), and 4 March (virtual).
You will find the Festival page on Eventbrite at
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/the-bzs-2023-zimbabwean-book-festival-3-4-march-1573639
Register for each day of the two day programme at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-bzs-2023-zimbabwean-book-festival-the-story-is-you-day-1-facetoface
-tickets-514684012737
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-bzs-2023-zimbabwean-book-festival-the-story-is-you-day-2-online-tic
kets-514683049857
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