Times searching for new authors

19 Aug, 2016 - 00:08 0 Views

The ManicaPost

Morris Mtisi
WHEN the expected harvest has changed, the seed has to change. The above sentiment must be read carefully and understood in the correct context.

Maybe I must labour to make clear what to a few people may not be easy to understand.
Two environments have changed in the lives of Zimbabweans, one inevitably and another voluntarily but critically compelling.
The inevitable environment here refers to the passage of time.
The modern generation finds itself in a fast ever changing social environment driven by ICT connectivity.
The ability to connect any point globally in a matter of seconds has inevitably made the world far smaller than it used to be.
In Zimbabwe the voluntary environment our education planners have created is choosing an education system now driven by new goals and objectives-our New Curriculum meant to deepen and broaden the purpose of teaching and learning in schools.
Who could have stopped the two from happening?
The two new environments bring with them a new seriousness of purpose and list of new core values.
Both (environments) demand carefully thought out changes of the mind set and safe but appropriate adjustments.
I use the word safe here deliberately but carefully because foolish acquiescence to new environments can create more harm than the good intended by those changes.
A cautious approach to new effectiveness in authorship is always needed when a new socio economic environment presents itself.
When a war takes a new path and purpose, surely battles can only be won by changing tactics and strategies. And that means reorienting and retraining a new army of soldiers.
The above philosophy of accommodating change applies to all aspects of human life; business, politics, Law, marriage, religion etc.
This means I must precisely contextualize the issue under discussion here, namely education, in this case.
The two environments mentioned above, the social strata and the education curriculum are therefore the contexts dictating the call for change.
We cannot continue to write the same stories for our literature and write in the same way driven by the same aims and objectives.
We cannot continue to dream the same dreams in our creative or intellectual thrusts.
We cannot continue to write the same stories, in the same way, handling the same themes and life narratives in an environment that has since changed direction and values.
We cannot continue to use the same old textbooks to drive a new agenda of hopes, wishes and aspirations.
The seed needs to change if the harvest is expected to be a different one and desired one.
The above thinking does not require professorial think-tanks to advocate.
This is a very simple concept of development any mind can understand and appreciate.
The calling or advocacy here being espoused is simple. We need new writers, new authors writing for new environments.
The critical issue here is one of relevance. We cannot live comfortably and meaningfully in these two days if we continue to live in the past.
The Past Tense is important in the writing of our history, but it is in the Present Tense that we find our meaning and relevance.
Our Government in its wisdom and effort to democratise education allowed 16 vernacular languages and dialects to be taught and learnt in schools: Tonga, Tswana, Nambya, Chibarwe, Ndau, Shangani, Venda, to mention but a few.
A lot more new writers will inevitably have to come into play. And the earlier resources are found and directed towards the identification, support and cultivation of this new crop of writers, the better for Zimbabwe. Not doing so is tantamount to putting the cart before the horse.
The change we so badly desire in the education system driven by the demands of the new curriculum will never come, unless we consciously and carefully prepare breeding ground for new authors, new writers who transform with the transformation.
Let me hasten to clarify what I mean by ‘new’ authors and writers here before some established ones go ballistic.
I am not here suggesting old authors must retire.
They are the ‘veterans’ in writing and will forever deserve their respect and salutations. But all wise artists redefine their own relevance and space according to time and space.
If musicians remix their old songs to give them a new flavour and relevance, so can writers.
Oliver Mtukudzi has revisited almost all his old hits to give them this new touch, sound and relevance.
The same with the gospel music diva, Fungisai! She has given her music path a new direction and sense of relevance.
That way these two career musical artists have become new in their oldness.
So you see, by new authors I am certainly not referring to young ones in the context of age.
Noooo! By no means Nooo! I mean new in the sense of relevance to new environments and thought.
Of course those who are tired can retire, but those who wish to write until the end of the days can do so, so long as they make an effort to be relevant.
Among other benefits, this is one way we can attract young people of Zimbabwe, especially those still in schools, to re-establish a culture of reading.
Most of them are weary from reading cold facts of life which they are quick to describe as boring.
I hope I have made my case.
Elsewhere on this page are introductions of two unknown writers who deserve the support to publish their works and fit in the class of authors our times are desperately searching for.

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