chirundu.com v2.0 » Zim People

Zimbabwean wins top writing prize for tale of starving children

Chirundu Jason — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:12:18 +0000

Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo who hails from New Lobengula in Bulawayo, has scooped this year’s Caine Prize for African Writing.

She works as a lecturer at Cornell University in New York and said one day she hopes to become a full time writer. Her short story called Hitting Budapest follows a group of six starving Zimbabwean children, one of whom is pregnant at age 10, as they go about fending for themselves.

The children from a shanty town decide to raid a well off neighbourhood for guavas. They encounter a rich woman and insult her for throwing away a piece of pizza, a food they discover for the first time in their lives. On their way back home they come across the body of someone who has committed suicide.

Asked if her story is related to the current situation in Zimbabwe, she said it was linked through the issue of poverty. “The real issue is that a lot of people are living below the poverty line and children, being society’s most vulnerable victims, are suffering the brunt of it,” she said. The story also draws heavily from her own experiences of growing up in Zimbabwe.

Bulawayo was chosen from 126 submissions by a jury consisting of this year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner Aminatta Forna and the Man Booker Prize shortlisted Libyan author Hisham Matar, among others.

Handing over the prize, Matar explained why Bulawayo was chosen over four other shortlisted writers:

“The language of Hitting Budapest crackles,” he said. “Here we encounter Darling, Bastard, Chipo, Godknows, Stina and Sbho, a gang reminiscent of ‘Clockwork Orange.’ But these are children, poor and violated and hungry. This is a story with moral power and weight (yet) has the artistry to refrain from moral commentary.”

As Caine Prize winner NoViolet receives £10,000 cash and will be given the opportunity to take up a month’s residence at Georgetown University, Washington DC, as a writer-in-residence. The award will cover all travel and living expenses.

The Caine Prize has become a near-infallible early warning system for new African talent. Often, just being shortlisted is enough to catapult African authors to international renown, as has been evidenced by Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie.

Previous winners such as Leila Aboulela, Helon Habila and Kenyan Binyavanga Wainaina have gone on to publish critically acclaimed works, as well as further the cause of writing in their respective countries.

Read Hitting Budapest

Buy the book: ‘To See the Mountain and other stories’ features all five stories shortlisted in 2011.

UK	USA

Former Zimbabwe cricketer Gus Mackay now chief executive of Harlequins

Chirundu Jason — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 20:03:14 +0000

The former Zimbabwe international cricketer Gus Mackay has swapped sports from cricket to become chief executive of Super League club Harlequins.

Mackay, who was born in Harare (then Salisbury) in 1967 made three limited-overs appearances for Zimbabwe, previously held a similar position with Sussex, while he has also had management roles with both Surrey and Leicestershire.

“I am looking forward to joining Harlequins,” said Mackay. “I am aware of the significant challenges which we face with this sport in London”

“However, I am confident that we can make a real impact and build on the good work and strong base which exists.”

He replaces Paul Blanchard, who has left the club to work for Surrey Sports Park.

Profile
As a teenager Gus Mackay played for Zimbabwe Colts in England in 1984 and then Zimbabwe Schools. His first-class debut, in 1998-99, did not come until he was 31, although he did play for Mashonaland in the Logan Cup before it became a first-class competition. In 1986 he spent a year at Essex and was then sidelined by a serious ankle injury, before joining English Midlands sides Barnet Green and West Bromwich.

As mentioned earlier, he played three internationals for Zimbabwe as a seam bowler and a lower-order batsman after he returned from England to Zimbabwe in an effort to gain a place in the team for the 1999 World Cup. This goal was never achieved, but he did win a call-up to the one-day side which toured Australia and New Zealand in 2000-01.

After his playing career ended, he began learning his trade as an administrator as general manager of Mashonaland, while working as a banker, and in 2006 he was appointed as chief executive at Sussex. At the end of the 2008 season he moved to Surrey as managing director of cricket.

Flower Power: England thrive with Zimbabwean Directions

Chirundu Jason — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:32:45 +0000

As I write this, the England cricket team lead this years Ashes clash against the Aussies 1-0 and I think it would be fair to say that they have completely outplayed them.

So what has this to do with Zimbabwe I hear you ask? Well one person who is unlikely to receive much recognition, but has much to do with England’s recent excellent performances is former Zimbabwean captain Andy Flower.

Alongside his former team mate Henry Olonga, their brave stance in protest at “the death of democracy” in Zimbabwe was very brave as well as inspirational, but it also put an end to both players international careers for Zimbabwe.

We should not however forget that Andrew Flower was Zimbabwe’s greatest ever player:

In 63 Tests between 1992 and 2002, he scored 4794 runs at the elite average of 51.54. He was a top-class batsman and a fine player of spin bowling in amassing more than 16,000 first-class runs. What is also forgotten is he was also Zimbabwe’s wicketkeeper and has 160 Test dismissals. Both he and Adam Gilchrist are clearly the two best ever batsmen/keepers at Test level.

England Coach
Andy happened upon the job of England head coach’s role after the falling-out between star player Kevin Pietersen and former coach Peter Moores in January 2009. Moores was removed from his post as was Pietersen from the leadership and a new era in English cricket was born.

As Andy was Moores’s assistant he took over as caretaker coach for the tour of the West Indies and although things didn’t start that well (England were bowled out in Jamaica for just 51), since then they have in the most part flourished. Flower appears to be a man on a mission and will not rest until England climb to the top of the world rankings and whilst the Ashes are important, England under Flower have bigger things on their mind as the real test will be when they take on India at home during the UK summer.

Although Flower is a quiet person, when he speaks, the players listen. Growing up in Zimbabwe has moulded him into a hard nut and shaped him as a man. The players respect him, they play for him, and that brings a harmonious team. The results are clear. Make no mistake England are a far far better team thanks to a Zimbabwean called Andrew Flower!

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including "Blood, Sweat And Treason" by Henry Olonga, “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

New Book: Blood Sweat and Treason by Henry Olonga

Chirundu Jason — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:36:41 +0000

A new book by Henry Olonga has just been released, called Blood Sweat & Treason tells the story of his childhood in Zimbabwe, of his gradual realisation that he was living in a dictatorship, of his battle to reach the very top as a black cricketer and how he sacrificed his position to do something he hoped would make a difference.

For those of you who don’t know Henry Olonga, he was actually born in Lusaka, Zambia but played cricket for Zimbabwe. He made his Test match debut against Pakistan at Harare in 1995 aged just 18 years and 212 days, making him the youngest player to represent Zimbabwe.

A right arm fast bowler, he holds the record for the best bowling in a one-day international by a Zimbabwean, with figures of 6/19 against England at Cape Town in 2000. He was also the first black cricketer to play for Zimbabwe and is the third Zambian-born Test cricketer after Phil Edmonds and Neal Radford of England.

Black Armband Protest
Henry Olonga along with Andy Flower made international headlines when during the 2003 World Cup they wore black armbands to protest against the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe. Widely praised for his bravery, the act ensured that Olonga played no meaningful part in the remainder of the competition and was later branded a traitor, sentenced to death in his absence and forced to dramatically flee his homeland and his family.

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

Write a Book Review

If you have read this book or any other book relating to Zimbabwe or Africa and would like to review it on Chirundu.com, please contact me as I would love to be able to include it on the site.

Zimbabwe Tennis: Cara Black Wins Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Title

Chirundu Jason — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:00:59 +0000

After overcoming some early nerves Zimbabwe’s tennis star Cara Black and her partner Leander Paes from India won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in straight sets against South Africa’s Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond from the Unites States on Sunday.

The mixed doubles final took place on Centre Court straight after strolled Rafael Nadal had won the men’s singles. A topsy-turvy opening set had five breaks of serve as both pairs struggled to impose themselves. But after losing three of the first four games, the second seeds and last years loosing finalists rallied to win five of the next six and closed out the set in 37 minutes.

The second set turned out to be a reversal of the first and it was a tightly fought encounter without a single break of serve.

The tiebreak proved a test of nerve and Black and Paes held theirs with the Indian volleying the winner on championship point to take the match in one hour and 37 minutes.

This is Cara’s second Wimbledon title as she has previously won won in 2004 with her brother Wayne Black and their second grand slam title of the year after winning the Australian Open title in January with a 7-5 6-3 victory against Ekaterina Makarova and Jaroslav Levinský. They have also won the U.S. Open in 2008 and were runners-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

Elton Chigumbura to play for Northamptonshire

Chirundu Jason — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:25:03 +0000

Zimbabwe cricket captain, Elton Chigumbura joins Northants: Chigumbura, who has been in fine form with the bat in the recent triangular tournament against Sri Lanka and India, will be with the club until the end of the 2010 season.

Within hours of arriving at the County Ground, Elton was out in the middle peppering the pavilion roof with huge sixes. He said, “Yeah that’s my other strength! I like to get out there and hit the ball cleanly and time it just right.”

In an interview with the BBC, the 24-year-old Zimbabwean said “It was one of my dreams to play county cricket and finally I’m here,” he also went on to say “It’s come at the right time. I want to show the counties and the world that the guys in Zimbabwe are competitive.”

David Capel the coach of Northamptonshire has said that Elton should express himself and just play what he knows. Chigumbura also said that David Capel has already helped him with some technical stuff, and that he is looking forward to working some more with him.

The former Northants wicketkeeper Rikki Wessels has tipped Zimbabwean Elton Chigumbura to be a success. Wessels, who played with Chigumbura in Zimbabwe, told BBC Radio Northampton: “He’s very talented and he’s immense in the field.
“He’s a very dangerous bowler to left-handed batsman and he can hit the ball a very long way and very hard.”
Chigumbura could make his debut in the Twenty20 match at Leicestershire today – Friday 18th June scheduled to begin at 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT).

You can keep up-to-date with his progress live on CrickInfo or for live cricket commentary, on BBC Radio Northamptonshire via the BBC website here.

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

Stephen Muzhingi wins 2010 Comrades Marathon

Chirundu Jason — Sun, 30 May 2010 09:00:03 +0000

Stephen Muzhingi has won the Comrades Marathon for the second time, he overtook Claude Moshiywa and kept his four minute lead from about 20km from the finish line.

The world’s greatest ultra-marathon, 90 kilometres long, the Comrades is a South African institution, internationally recognised for the body-sapping challenge it poses and the camaraderie it fosters among its thousands of participants.

The Comrades is run between the capital of the Kwazulu-Natal province, Pietermaritzburg and the coastal city of Durban, the race alternates annually between the “up run” from Durban and the “down run” from Pietermaritzburg.

Stephen Muzhingi
Last year, Stephen Muzhingi became the first Zimbabwean winner of the Comrades Marathon in 2009 in the second fastest time ever recorded: five hours, 23 minutes and 27 seconds. Shvetsov, going for his third win in succession, was struck by cramps nine kilometres from the finish and had to settle for second.

His real breakthrough came in 2007 when Stephen placed seventh in the Comrades and ever since then he has been focusing on improving his times. In 2009 before his comrades win, he came fourth in the Two Oceans Marathon with a time of three hours eleven minutes. The Durban based Zimbabwean, said that in 2009 he would be sending a portion of his prize money home to his family in Zimbabwe.

History
Vic Clapham, a First World War veteran came up with the idea for the Comrades as he wanted a living memorial to those South African soldiers killed in the war. Clapham, who had endured a 2 700-kilometre route march through sweltering German East Africa, wanted the memorial to be a unique test of the physical endurance of the entrants.

John Traicos: Zimbabwean Cricketer

Chirundu Jason — Mon, 17 May 2010 07:01:14 +0000

Chirundu.com would like to wish Athanasios John Traicos a happy birthday. He was born today (17 May) in 1947 in Zagazig, Egypt.

A former Zimbabwean cricketer who played in Zimbabwe’s first test match and also represented South Africa at international level. He was primarily an off spin bowler, and is one of a small number of cricketers to have played at the highest level for more than one country.

Whilst Traicos was born in Egypt, he grew up in Rhodesia (Now Zimbabwe) and played when Rhodesia was regarded as a “province” within the South African domestic cricket setup.

His father Tryphon Traicos was born in Lemnos (Greece) in 1900 and at the age of 12 he was sent to Egypt to work in his uncle’s business. A year after John was born the Traicos family migrated to Fort Victoria (now Masvingo) in Southern Rhodesia in September 1948. This obviously produced a major shift in their cultural influence and it was out with the tavli and in with the cricket.

Traicos started playing cricket, inspired by his cousin Peter and coached by Neil Jardine, a former rugby international and then at Natal University by the great South African all-rounder Trevor Goddard.

His progress as an off-spinner was rapid. He was selected for the South African Universities tour of England in 1967 and then made his first-class debut for Rhodesia against Transvaal B in Salisbury the following year.

South African Test Player
John Traicos made his Test match debut for the South African cricket team against Australia at Durban in February 1970.

There are many people who know a thing or two about cricket say that the South African side which destroyed Australia 4-0 in the 1969/1970 series was one of the finest of all-time. Great players included Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Ali Bacher, Peter Pollock, Lee Irvine and Mike Procter.

Unfortunately for John, not long after his debut, South Africa were banned from international cricket because of the apartheid regime and this meant the end of his international career until 1980 when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean Cricketer
Traicos continued to play for Zimbabwe after the country gained its independence, and appeared for them in the 1982, 1986 and 1990 ICC Trophy tournaments. He also represented Zimbabwe in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, and was an important part of the side which inflicted a shock defeat on Australia.

Zimbabwe were raised to Test status in 1992, and Traicos was selected for the country’s inaugural Test match which took place in Harare at the Harare Sports Club against India. So at the age of 45 years and 304 days, Traicos returned to Test cricket and he finished with great bowling figures of 5-86, his victims including Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammed Azharuddin and Kapil Dev.

The John Traicos File

Born: 17 May 1947 in Zagazig, Egypt
Tests: 7 in total, 3 for South Africa (1970) and 4 for Zimbabwe (1992-3)
Bowling: 18 wickets (avge 42.72)
Best: 5-86 v India, Harare 1993
ODIs: 27 for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

Iain Butchart: Zimbabwean Cricketer

Chirundu Jason — Sun, 09 May 2010 07:01:17 +0000

Chirundu.com would like to wish Iain Peter Butchart a happy birthday as he was born today (9 May) in 1960 in Bulawayo

Iain Butchart played one Test for Zimbabwe against Pakistan in Harare at the age of 35 and was one of the key figures in the years immediately before Zimbabwe gained Test status. He also played in 20 One Day Internationals spread over twelve years for Zimbabwe.

He was an all-round player, a right-handed batsman and an often used medium pacer where he bowled more than 13 overs a match during his first class career.

In the one-day internationals his best batting performance was 54 off 70 balls against New Zealand at the 1987 World Cup, which took Zimbabwe from 104 for 7 to 221 for 8 chasing a total of 243 to win. But with four to get and three balls remaining, Butchart was run out, and New Zealand won by 3 runs. His best bowling figures were 3 for 57 – Aamer Sohail for 114, Inzamam-ul-Haq for 14 and Javed Miandad for 89 in a 53-run loss to Pakistan at the 1992 World Cup.

He also played in 9 matches in the ICC Trophy for Zimbabwe where he made 57 runs without being dismissed and taking 14 wickets, including four for 33 against Netherlands in the 1986 final, which Zimbabwe won by 25 runs.

After his playing days were over, he went on to coach the Zimbabwe Under-19 side.

Facts:

Full name Iain Peter Butchart
Born May 9, 1960, Bulawayo
Major teams Zimbabwe, Mashonaland Country Districts
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Education Plumtree School

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

Thom Evans – Zimbabwean born Scottish Rugby International

Chirundu Jason — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:42:25 +0000

For those who don’t know: Thom Evans is a Scottish international rugby union player, born in Harare, Zimbabwe. He currently plays his club rugby on the wing for Glasgow Warriors in the Magners League. Evans’ brother, Max, currently plays for Scotland and Glasgow Warriors. They are the 20th set of brothers to play together for Scotland.

At the age of nine, Thom was dispatched from his carefree existence in Harare to an English prep school, a gifted sportsman he is also a one-time England Schools sprinter, England Under-16s golfer and and whilst he was born in Zimbabwe and educated in England, his maternal grandfather, Fred Thom, was a Scottish.

At Wellington College his prodigious rugby talent came to the fore and, having played for England at Under 16 and Under 18 level, Evans was expected to sign with the London team Harlequins after he left school in 2004. Instead, he embarked on a gap year that most teenagers can only fantasise about:

Twen2y 4 Se7en
“I was approached by my friend Andy, who’d been setting up a band. There were four of them, but one dropped out and he asked me if I’d be interested in stepping in. It was the biggest decision of my life, but I said yes straight away. I then had to make a very difficult phone call, to tell the rugby coach that I’d decided to join a boyband called Twen2y 4 Se7en and go off on tour. I was deeply surprised by how supportive he was: I’d expected a backlash.”

Scotland Rugby
Despite his love of performing with Twen2y 4 Se7en, being a focus of desire for thousands of teenage girls, his instincts told him not to abandon that ambition to make his mark in rugby, so in 2005 he made his debut with London Wasps, moving on to join Glasgow Warriors in 2006. His star potential was evident from the start and his first cap for Scotland came in June 2008, not many months after his grandfather died. “I got quite emotional, because I knew he would have been overwhelmed to see me run out in a Scotland jersey.

Injury: Thom Evans suffers ‘very serious back injury’

Moment of impact: Evans is tackled by Wales' Lee Byrne and Shane Williams. Photo credit: David Davies/PA Wire.

During the game against Wales in Cardiff in this years (2010) Six Nations, Thom, who was playing with his older brother Max alongside him suffered what was announced to be a ‘very serious back injury’.

Evans was playing at outside-centre when he ran into Welsh hooker Gareth Williams carrying the ball.
Although the hit was brutal, Evans half got to his feet again before being tackled both from behind and by Welsh and Lions full-back Lee Byrne.

The Glasgow Warriors wing spent almost a fortnight in a Cardiff hospital and was operated on twice and sparked fears for his long-term health.

He recently spoke for the first time and said he felt like a bullet had ripped through his body: Recovering at home in Glasgow, his spine held in place with screws and a metal cage, he said the injury left him unable to move his legs. He added that the agony of learning Scotland had lost the game because of a stunning late collapse was more excruciating than the physical pain he endured.

“Max has been trying to get me to slow down and not push it too much. I think he is just worried that the sooner I get back, the sooner his place will be in jeopardy.” He stresses that he is joking and that he is yet to decide whether he wants to attempt a comeback. “I’m just trying to get back to fitness slowly and I’m going to make that decision at the end of the season. It’s something that I’ll need to think hard about. At the moment I’m not sure. Max has said he’ll be 100% behind me no matter what decision I end up making.”

Latest Update:
Thom Evans insists he will return to playing next season (2011), as he steps up his recovery from the injury which could have killed him.

He added: “I have been running regularly and feel good. Although I am not up to gym work just now, that will come.
“After that, there will be physical contact training and then more work to get me ready. Others will be relaxing during the pre-season, but I will keep working to get myself right. I don’t want to put pressure on myself by setting a date, but I will be back.

“I don’t expect it will be at the start of the season but I’m hopeful I will be ready to help Glasgow sometime during the campaign.

“I am not even thinking about getting back into the Scotland team, as I just want to make sure I can get myself fit enough to play competitive rugby again.”

I am sure that like many of you, Chirundu.com would like to wish him well and we look forward to seeing him in the blue of Scotland again soon.

chirundu.com v2.0 » Zim People

Zimbabwean wins top writing prize for tale of starving children

Read Hitting Budapest

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