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Zim author ‘strikes gold’ in US

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PROLIFIC author, Christopher Mlalazi’s book, Running with Mother, has been prescribed as a text in the Values and Culture class at a San Francisco university in the United States.

PROLIFIC author, Christopher Mlalazi’s book, Running with Mother, has been prescribed as a text in the Values and Culture class at a San Francisco university in the United States.

BY LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI

PROLIFIC author, Christopher Mlalazi’s book, Running with Mother, has been prescribed as a text in the Values and Culture class at a San Francisco university in the United States.

Mlalazi, who is currently based in Germany, said the book has been prescribed for the class for the third year running.

“Once again, San Francisco State University have my book Running With Mother as a prescribed text this year in a ‘Values and Culture’ class,” wrote the award-winning author on his Facebook page.

“This is the third time. To buttress this, value your culture and be proud to mention the so-called unmentionable. This is a good start into 2016.”

Christopher Mlalazi

Running With Mother tells the story of 14-year-old Rudo, whose school life is dramatically altered when soldiers arrived in her village to exterminate “Ndebele dissidents”, but is saved only because her mother is Shona. The story captures the terror she experiences when she flees home with her mother amid the confusion and severe torture of family and friends during the Gukurahundi of the early 1980s.

Meanwhile, Mlalazi told NewsDay that he has lined up several projects for this year and there were possibilities that his play, Water Games, could be headed for Europe soon.

“I already have three projects running, the television drama, the play Water Games, which might be headed for Europe in a couple of months, the prescribed book, and another new play that will hit the streets of Bulawayo next month,” he said.

Mlalazi said plans were also underway to design mobile phone applications for aesthetic arts, as he was currently studying java script.

“Be on the look out for mobile apps that will support the appreciation of aesthetics in the arts,” he said. “It will take time, but I am taking the challenge head on. And then, the mother of all projects that is close to my heart, the new novel under construction, Blade Make.”

Apart from Running with Mother, Mlalazi has also written Many Rivers (2009) and the short story collection Dancing With Life: Tales From the Township (2008) and his eight plays — including the 2008 Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Award winner, The Crocodile Of Zambezi, have all been staged.

Mlalazi, who is currently based in Germany, said the book has been prescribed for the class for the third year running.

“Once again, San Francisco State University have my book Running With Mother as a prescribed text this year in a ‘Values and Culture’ class,” wrote the award-winning author on his Facebook page.

“This is the third time. To buttress this, value your culture and be proud to mention the so-called unmentionable. This is a good start into 2016.”

Running With Mother tells the story of 14-year-old Rudo, whose school life is dramatically altered when soldiers arrived in her village to exterminate “Ndebele dissidents”, but is saved only because her mother is Shona. The story captures the terror she experiences when she flees home with her mother amid the confusion and severe torture of family and friends during the Gukurahundi of the early 1980s.

Meanwhile, Mlalazi told NewsDay that he has lined up several projects for this year and there were possibilities that his play, Water Games, could be headed for Europe soon.

“I already have three projects running, the television drama, the play Water Games, which might be headed for Europe in a couple of months, the prescribed book, and another new play that will hit the streets of Bulawayo next month,” he said.

Mlalazi said plans were also underway to design mobile phone applications for aesthetic arts, as he was currently studying java script.

“Be on the look out for mobile apps that will support the appreciation of aesthetics in the arts,” he said. “It will take time, but I am taking the challenge head on. And then, the mother of all projects that is close to my heart, the new novel under construction, Blade Make.”

Apart from Running with Mother, Mlalazi has also written Many Rivers (2009) and the short story collection Dancing With Life: Tales From the Township (2008) and his eight plays — including the 2008 Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Award winner, The Crocodile Of Zambezi, have all been staged.