The 8th African Women Writers’ Symposium will launch with the Nadine Gordimer In Memoriam Lecture by hosting award-winning Zimbabwean writer, human rights activist and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangaremgba on October 26, 2022. The event will take place at the Soweto Theatre.

The event is a hybrid programme with keynote speaker Tsitsi Dangaremgba speaking via live stream from Harvard University where she is currently based. This will be followed by a Q&A with a live theatre audience facilitated by author and renowned journalist Joanne Joseph. As part of the programme, there will be live music and poetry to wrap up the first event of the Symposium’s exciting literary programme that will continue into the month of November.

Recently convicted and fined by the Zimbabwean courts for her protest action against the unfair treatment of Zimbabwean journalists, Dangaremgba is the most appropriate voice to address us in the subregion that is embroiled with socio-economic and political challenges including xenophobia. Writing and organising for human rights and justice are thus not conflicting choices.

“I think that people need to choose why they write. I think that politics is meant to serve the person, the individual, and human society. If fiction only serves politics then, for me, it would not be doing service to the general society, to the human condition. To me, it really is very important to say something meaningful to people about their lives and how we can negotiate life,” reflected Dangaremgba in an interview following the short-listing of her book This Mournable Body for the Booker Prize 2020.

Her debut novel, the first of the trilogy following Tambudzai’s life, Nervous Conditions (1988) has been described as one of the 100 books that “shaped the world.” Her literary authorship also includes the recent collection of essays Black and Female, and The Book of Not.

Dangaremgba is currently a Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellow, researching the migrations of the people who came to be called the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Her address for the Nadine Gordimer In Memoriam Lecture is in many ways the continuation of an ongoing conversation in the subregion.

The rest of the evening programme at Soweto Theatre will include singers Luh’ra, Boskasie, singer and poet Nomashenge Dhlamini and Zandile Sibanda as well as other exciting artists. Cape Town based singer / songwriter Luh’ra will present an enchanting version of her own acoustic soul with her golden guitar. Boskasie is an interesting artist who has collaborated with hip hop artists, including Cassper Nyovest and Youngsta.

The 8th African Women Writer’s Symposium programme will continue into November 2022 with a masterclass / songwriting workshop in Mkhondo (Mphumalaga), as well as in Modimolle (Limpopo). The Modimolle programme will include a series of relevant movie screenings, scriptwriting workshop as well as a free acoustic music and poetry concert on the 20th of November.

Tsitsi Dangaremgba’s Lecture at Soweto Theatre will be live streamed on 26 October, from 6pm, on the following digital platforms:

All programme events are free and open to the public but RSVP is essential for audience members wishing to attend in person. RSVPs are to be sent to afroartsurban@gmail.com

8th African Women Writers Symposium – Detailed Programme:

Nadine Gordimer In Memoriam Lecture, presented by Tsitsi Dangaremgba followed by Q&A, and a cultural programme of music and poetry.
Date: 26 October 2022 – Time: 6pm onwards – Venue: Soweto Theatre

Masterclass Workshop on SongWriting and Marketing, presented by Dambisa Maqoga and Siya Makuzeni.
Date: 12 November 2022 – Venue: Heroes Creative Joint, in Mkhondo (Mpumalanga)

Film Screening, Masterclass on Script Writing
Date: 16-19 November 2022 – Venue: Lekkerbreek Primary School Hall, in Modimolle (Limpopo)

Acoustic Concert featuring Music and Poetry, featuring Siya Makuzeni, Boskasie, Nomashenge, Ikati Esongxoweni, Kamva String Quartet and others.
Date: 20 November 2022 – Time: 3-6pm – Venue: Molalatladi Park, in Modimolle (Limpopo)