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 school, he worked with the Forestry Commission before joining Textbook Sales in Harare. From 1975 to 1981 he worked at the Literature Bureau as an editor and then moved to the Zimbabwe Publishing House.

Works and recognition

Mungoshi's works include short stories and novels in

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

and English. He also wrote poetry, but viewed it as a "mere finger exercise". He had a wide range, including anti-colonial writings and children's books. While the colonial regime initially banned his work he eventually wrote about post-colonial oppression as well. He was both an editor and a translator as well. The awards he won include the

Noma Award The Noma Prizes were established by Shoichi Noma, or in his honor. More than one award is conventionally identified as the ''Noma Prize''. Noma was the former head of Kodansha, the Japanese publishing and bookselling company. Kodansha is Japan' ...

in 1992 and the

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

(Africa Region) twice in the years 1988 and 1998. Two of his novels, one in

and the other in English, both published in 1975, won the International PEN Awards. His first Shona novel was ''Makunun'unu Maodzamoyo'' followed by the English short collection ''Some Kinds of Wounds'', which was banned by the colonial regime. His other Shona novel, ''Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura'', won several awards and his play ''Inongova Njakenjake'' showed his versatility as a writer. His ''Branching Streams Flow in the Dark'' won a National Arts Merit Award in 2014 for being the outstanding fiction book published in the year.

Family

He is the brother of

David Mungoshi David Sunsly Mungoshi (30 September 1949 – 29 August 2020) was a Zimbabwean novelist, actor, poet and teacher. Early life He was born in 1949 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and was fluent in Shona, Ndebele and English. He learnt Zulu, similar to Ndeb ...

. He married an actress, Jesesi Mungoshi, who played the title role in the 1993 Zimbabwean film '' Neria'' (written by

Tsitsi Dangarembga Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker. Her debut novel, ''Nervous Conditions'' (1988), which was the first to be published in English by a Black woman from Zimbabwe, was named by the BBC in ...

and directed by Godwin Mawuru). He held an Honorary degree from the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the University o ...

. Mungoshi also took part in some of the local Zimbabwean drama series in the late 1980s to early '90s, and played a role in a local drama ''Ndabvezera'', which was produced by Aaron Chiundura Moyo. He died in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

on February 16, 2019.

Bibliography

* ''Coming of the Dry Season'' (1972) * ''Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva'' (1975) * ''Waiting for the Rain'' (1975) * ''Makunun'unu Maodzamoyo'' ("Brooding Breeds Despair"; 1977) * ''Inongova Njake Njake'' (1980) * ''Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura?'' (1983) * ''The Setting Sun and Rolling World'' (1987) * ''Stories from a Childhood'' (1989) * ''One Day Long Ago: More Stories from a Shona Childhood'' (1991) * ''Walking Still'' (short stories; 1997) * ''The Milkman Doesn't Only Deliver Milk'' (1998) * ''Branching Streams flow in the dark'' (2013) * ''How the World Will End'' (2017)

References

External links

Entry from the Literary EncyclopediaBrief Bio from Poetry International WebA reflection on Charles Mungoshi's poetry"Charles Muzuva Mungoshi", Championing Arts Development.
*Phyllis Johnson
"Charles Mungoshi: A historical perspective"
Nehanda Radio, 17 February 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mungoshi, Charles 1947 births 2019 deaths Zimbabwean novelists Zimbabwean male writers Male novelists Zimbabwean male short story writers Zimbabwean short story writers Zimbabwean children's writers International Writing Program alumni Academic staff of the University of Zimbabwe Rhodesian people Rhodesian writers Deaths from cerebrovascular disease English-language writers from Zimbabwe