Masimba Musodza Explained

Masimba Musodza
Birth Name:Julius Masimba Musodza'
Birth Date:29 March 1976
Birth Place:Harare, Zimbabwe
Occupation:Screenwriter, Novelist, Producer

Julius Masimba Musodza (born 29 March 1976) is a Zimbabwean author.

Life

Musodza was born at the cusp of the emergence of the new Zimbabwe, the eldest son of a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Lands. The Musodza family are of the Buja people of Mutoko, north east Zimbabwe. Reading was encouraged in the Musodza household. He was educated at Avondale Primary School, Harare and St Mary Magdalene's High School, Nyanga. After school, he trained as a screenwriter, selling his first screenplay to Media For Development Trust in 2002. Barely a month after, as political and socio-economic uncertainty engulfed Zimbabwe, Musodza relocated to the United Kingdom, where he has lived ever since. He lives in the North East England town of Middlesbrough.[1] [2]

Writing

An avid reader as a child, Musodza aspired to be a writer from the time he discovered that it was possible to earn a living from it.[3] Musodza has contributed to StoryTime e-zine, which was founded by Sweden-based Zimbabwean author and publisher, Ivor Hartmann.,[4] Jungle Jim,[5] Bookends, Winter Tales[6] [7] and other periodicals.

He is also the author of the first definitive science fiction novel in the Shona language, MunaHacha Maive Nei?[8] [9] Musodza states that he began to write science-fiction in ChiShona when he was 10, when he translated Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for his maternal grandmother. His use of ChiShona challenges the widely-held perception that indigenous languages lack the "sophistication" with which to conceptualise and articulate "complex" ideas such as are found in science-fiction.[10] [11] [12] He has also stated that he is inspired by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Decolonising The Mind. Musodza explores writing science -fiction in ChiShona in an essay, Writing and Publishing 'Complicated Stuff' in an African Language, which appeared in Vector 289, the magazine of the British Fantasy Association[13] He is one of two Zimbabwean writers who have been featured in Geoff Ryman's 100 African Writers of SF[14]

In addition to two personal blogs, Musodza, an advocate for Zionism, blogs for The Times of Israel.[15] He has taken part in the Battle for Ideas Festival[16]

Novels and novellas

Short fiction

Acting

Masimba Musodza's professional acting debut was in Edgar Langeveldt's play, No News, which premiered at Theatre-In-The-Park, Harare, in 1997. He also appears in a short film, Vengeance is Mine (2001) by Tawanda Gunda. However, it was not until he settled in Middlesbrough that he began to pursue acting more seriously. He appeared in a short play, To Be Or Not To Be, written by compatriot Dictator Maphosa, as part of the Middlesbrough Council-sponsored Boro Bites short plays (August, 2010). In 2011, he joined the Arc Sketch Group, an extension of the Writers Block North East workshops,[22] [23] [24] which put on themed sketch shows[25] at the Arc Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees until it disbanded in 2012.

Since then, Masimba Musodza has been a film and TV extra, appearing in such productions as (Episode 11), where he plays a Vani warrior.[26] He can also be seen in the festival teaser and UK trailer for Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake.[27] He has also appeared in Make! Craft Britain, which was aired on BBC4 on June 9, 2016.[28] His most recent appearance has been in the short film I Need help (Ben Stainsby, 2018), where he plays 'The Wise Man'[29]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://masimbamusodza.co.uk/Biography/index.html/
  2. Web site: TeesBlogs — The man from Zimbabwe, that writes on Teesside . Teesblogs.tumblr.com . 2015-04-29 . 2015-12-23 . December 24, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151224103959/http://teesblogs.tumblr.com/post/117695772680/the-man-from-zimbabwe-that-writes-on-teesside . dead .
  3. Web site: Masimba Musodza . Africabookclub.com . 2014-11-17 . 2015-12-23.
  4. Musodza's Profile on Story Time ezine
  5. Web site: Masimba Musodza . Jungle Jim . 2012-05-08 . 2015-12-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043812/http://www.junglejim.org/?p=591 . March 4, 2016 . dead .
  6. Web site: Winter Tales . Foxspirit.co.uk . 2014-08-28 . 2015-12-23.
  7. Web site: Read More African Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction Stories. December 23, 2022 .
  8. Web site: First science fiction novel in ChiShona . Nehanda Radio . 2011-06-07 . 2015-12-23.
  9. Web site: Mark Bould . African Sf: Introduction . Paradoxa . 2013-08-23 . 2015-12-23 . March 20, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190320192946/http://paradoxa.com/volumes/25/introduction/ . dead .
  10. Web site: "Kunyora muChiShona" na Masimba Musodza . March 4, 2021 . March 7, 2022 . March 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220307184353/https://www.mosioatunyareview.com/post/kunyora-muchishona-na-masimba-musodza . dead .
  11. Web site: African SF . May 24, 2020 .
  12. https://fanac.org/fanzines/Vector/Vector289.pdf
  13. Writing and Publishing 'Complicated Stuff' in an African Language, Vector 289
  14. Web site: 100 African Writers of SFF — Part Two: Writers in the U.K.. November 2016.
  15. Web site: Breakstone . David . Masimba Musodza | The Blogs | The Times of Israel . Blogs.timesofisrael.com . 2015-12-23.
  16. Web site: Masimba Musodza .
  17. Web site: Masimba Musodza: The Confession of Hatifari Maforimbo . December 4, 2019 .
  18. https://www.newsday.co.zw/southerneye/standard-style/article/200034769/musodzas-aquilina-translated-into-english
  19. https://lingua.olongoafrica.com/utu-ojii
  20. Article on [Ghanaweb.com]http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=181180
  21. Review of Yesterday's Dog Web site: Masimba Musodza - Yesterday's Dog | Damian Kelleher . 2010-09-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100925061152/http://www.damiankelleher.com/drupal/review/masimba-musodza-yesterdays-dog . September 25, 2010 .
  22. Web site: Easter Funnies 2 at Stockton Arc. March 28, 2012.
  23. Web site: Arc sketch group. July 9, 2012 .
  24. Web site: Easter 2021 in Stockton-on-Tees, EN | Annual Easter Egg Hunt & Things to do in Stockton-on-Tees, EN.
  25. Web site: One Giant Leap . fansonline.net . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120605034228/http://fansonline.net/onegiantleap/article.php?id=854 . 2012-06-05.
  26. Web site: Science fiction Shona novel print version.
  27. News: I, Daniel Blake: The trailer for Ken Loach's Palme d'Or-winner – video. The Guardian. June 15, 2016.
  28. Web site: BBC Four - MAKE! Craft Britain, Special - Embroidered Lampshade Workshop.
  29. Web site: I Need Help (2018) - IMDb. IMDb.

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