The Writers International Network Zimbabwe (Win) has launched a programme to reach out to aspiring authors at grassroots level through establishing a community office in Epworth.
The new establishment aims at giving writers, poets, storytellers, actors and playwrights with skills and knowledge in their chosen fields a platform to showcase their talents and break onto the mainstream literature scene.
Win-Zimbabwe is collaborating with Global Arts Trust (Gat) in the project.
“Last year, Win-Zimbabwe entered into a partnership with the Gat, an arts organisation that mainly facilitates the training in and development of theatre and performing arts and is led by veteran actor, producer, director and mentor Walter Muparutsa and this partnership is set to initiate many talent search programmes,” said Win-Zimbabwe founder and director, Beaven Tapureta.
Tapureta said his organisation decided to reach out to the Epworth community because many talented artists, young and old, in the area had either given up their careers or did not understand the processes involved in getting their works showcased.
He said Epworth was lagging in terms of arts and cultural activities and many people viewed the area as too poor to breed talented artists yet it had bred stars such as well-known actor and musician Freddy “Kapfupi” Majalima, Jeffrey “Aphiri” Chikwesere and Charles “Marabha” Merisi.
“There are more groups and individuals in Epworth who are interested in writing, reading and acting, but they have nowhere to go and Win-Zimbabwe intends to bridge this gap,” said Tapureta.
Tapureta, who grew up in Epworth where he also did his crèche, primary and secondary education, said he urged various artists in the area to join Win-Zimbabwe which was now at their doorstep and had a line-up of workshops and a celebration of the Culture Week planned for them.
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He said that he felt good that he was making a move to give back to his community.
“The activities planned for Epworth also include fundraising and a Shona language writing competition which is aimed at promoting our mother languages and identifying creative talent and the dates for the activities are yet to be announced,” said Tapureta.
The programme depends entirely on volunteers and would benefit aspiring actors through the assistance of Muparutsa who is an experienced arts consultant with a rich background in acting. He featured in award-winning films such as Everyone’s Child, Yellow Card and Playing Warriors. He played a pivotal role in television series Waiters. Win-Zimbabwe was formed in 2010 and already the organisation has programmes running at full scale including the manuscript assessment and editing, newsletter publishing, and other literary aspects. It has hosted literary functions including two editions of the annual Writers’ End-of-Year Get-Together.
