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Author pens two Ndau books

Life & Style
A BULAWAYO-BASED columnist with a local vernacular newspaper, Ishmail Penyai, has penned two Ndau books — Yarira Yekanyi and Ngano dzeKanyi — which will be launched later this month.

BY SHARON SIBINDI

A BULAWAYO-BASED columnist with a local vernacular newspaper, Ishmail Penyai, has penned two Ndau books — Yarira Yekanyi and Ngano dzeKanyi — which will be launched later this month.

Yarira Yekanyi is a poetry book with love poems and Ngano dzeKanyi is a folktale book in which Penyai collaborated with other authors from Chipinge and Chimanimani.

“The first one – Yarira Yekanyi is a love poetry collection in Ndau which cuts across all genres of love; love for parents and relatives, love for scenic places in Zimbabwe and love for our country Zimbabwe. The second book, Ngano dzeKanyi, is a collection of Ndau folktales from various authors in Chimanimani and Chipinge,” Penyai told NewsDay Weekender Life & Style.

Penyai said the two books are set to revive the memories of their ancestors and how they used to communicate with their grandchildren.

“We are bringing back those folktales our grandmothers used to tell us while waiting to eat cooked mealies and round nuts in the evening,” he said.

“I believe this is the first attempt to have a collection of Ndau folktales in book form and I am optimistic the owners of this language will be happy to have a copy of these folktales.”

Penyai said the books were submitted to the curriculum development unit to consider them for use in the schools where Ndau is predominantly spoken.

“Our target markets are the schools and the public at large. People in Chimanimani and Chipinge have welcomed these two anthologies and they can’t wait to see them in shops at the end of this month,” he said.