Published between 1954 and 1981 ''Two Tone'' was a quarterly of

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

n poetry magazine, which signified a radical break with the largely conservative Eurocentric academic traditions which until then had dominated

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an poetry. Publishing poetry by both black and white writers working, predominantly in English but also in

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages *Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele *Northern Ndebele language, the language o ...

and Shona, it challenged divisions and created a new open field for expression in divergent poetic voices and styles.

History and profile

''Two Tone'' was launched in 1954. The founders were Phillippa Berlyn and Olive Robertson. While the magazine was published in association with the National Arts Foundation of Rhodesia and the University of Rhodesia's English Department the selection process was left to the journal's rotating board of editors, whose focus on "good writing," "technical skill," "stylistic innovation" and "authentic expression" provided a foundation for much of the groundbreaking new literature that exploded in Zimbabwe in the 1970. In 1976 Kizito Zhiradzigo Muchemwa became the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the magazine, being the first black editor. The magazine folded in 1981.

Content and themes

''Two Tone'' prioritised the author of the imagination rather than the revisionist historian or political revolutionary - a position which became increasing tenuous during the oppressive years of the Ian Smith regime. The magazine received scathing criticism from academics, political activist and many black poets who increasingly saw it as a "banal" and "pretentious outlet" for a closed minority of "White literati", whose "patronizing approach" to black writing supported the political status quo. The antagonism was only exacerbated by the publication of defensive editorials which argued that "separatism and elitism" create the assurances of liberty to "foster imaginative literature." Despite the controversy, the journal's legacy is secured through the writing of seminal contemporary Zimbabwean poets such as D. F. Middleton,

Julius Chingono Julius Sekai Chingono (1946-2011) was a writer from Zimbabwe. He wrote poetry in Shona and English. Biography Julius Sekai Chingono was born in Zimbabwe in 1946. He got his primary education at Mabvuku School, but dropped out of school at the a ...

Charles Mungoshi Charles Lovemore Mungoshi (2 December 1947 – 16 February 2019), was a Zimbabwean writer. Life and career Mungoshi was born on 2 December 1947 at Manyene, near Chivhu (Zimbabwe). He was educated at St Augustine's, Penhalonga. After leaving ...

, Bonus Zimunya,

John Eppel John Eppel was born in Lydenburg, South Africa. He moved to Colleen Bawn, a small mining town in the south of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), at the age of four. He was educated at Milton High School in Bulawayo, and later attended the Univers ...

, N. H. Brettell and

Patricia Schonstein Patricia Schonstein (born 1952), who also writes under the name Patricia Schonstein-Pinnock, is a South African-Italian novelist, poet, memoirist, author of children’s books and curator of anthologies. Schonstein, whose novels variously employ t ...

, all of whom began their literary careers on the pages of ''Two Tone''.

References

{{Dual, sourcepath=http://www.chimurengalibrary.co.za/periodicals.php?id=24, sourcearticle=Two Tone, date=29 September 2009, source=Chimurenga Library * Two Tone XIII March 1977, editorial by Olive Robertson, p2 * Two Tone XIII, September 1977, editorial by V. Crawford, p1-4 * R. Graham, "Poetry In Rhodesia," Zambezia: The Journal. of Humanities of the University of Zimbabwe VI ii), 1978, ip208 * John Reed. ""Emergence of English Writing in Zimbabwe," European-language Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1986, p251 * Robert Muponde, Ranka Primorac. Versions of Zimbabwe: New Approaches to Literature and Culture, African Book Collective, 2005

External links

Zimbabwe — Poetry International WebNational Arts Council of Zimbabwe website
Defunct literary magazines Defunct magazines published in Zimbabwe Magazines established in 1954 Magazines disestablished in 1981 Multilingual magazines Poetry literary magazines Quarterly magazines Magazines published in Zimbabwe