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Masimba Musodza

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Masimba Musodza
Born
Julius Masimba Musodza'

(1976-03-29) March 29, 1976 (age 48)
Harare, Zimbabwe
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, Novelist, Producer

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

Life

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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

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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

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  • Aquilina (kana kuti, Reuriro yaHatifari Maforimbo), 2020, Belontos Books, ISBN 978-1-9997077-4-3,[17] translated into English as Aquilina (or, The Confession Of Hatifari Maforimbo) ISBN 978-1-914287855 , 2024, Carnelian Heart Publishing, United Kingdom[18]
  • Shavi Rechikadzi, 2015, Belontos Books, ISBN 978-1-908690-24-1
  • MunaHacha Maive Nei? (2nd edition), 2016, Belontos Books, ISBN 978-1-908690-24-1
  • Uriah's Vengeance, Lion Press, 2009, Coventry, United Kingdom ISBN 978-0-9558082-5-8

Short fiction

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  • Cousin/Sister Modesta's Halloween Pumpkins, Halloweenthology-Witches' Brew, Wicked Press, India, 2024
  • Highly Civlised Men, the other side of hope, Volume 3, Issue 2, Winter 2023.
  • The Head Gardner, Skobeloff Horror & Ghost Stories Anthology, Skobeloff Publishing, United Kingdom, October 2023
  • Ask The Beasts, Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine, Vol. 26, Seven Hills Media, Nigeria/online, July 2023
  • Running Out, African Writer Magazine, Nigeria/online, July 2023
  • Black Tax, Agbowo, Issue 6, November 2022, Y, Nigeria, 2022, translated into Igbo by Yvonna Chioma Mbanefo as Ụtụ Ojii, Olonga Africa Anthology, Nigeria, 2023[19]
  • Ronak's Shame, Lolwe Literary Magazine, Nairobi, Kenya, 2022
  • The Sandship Builders Of Chitungwiza, Save The World: Twenty Sci-Fi Writers Save The Planet, ed. J.Scott Coatsworth, Other Worlds Ink, United States, 2022
  • Here I Am, My Son, Sticks & Stones Magazine, Bright Lights Media House, United Kingdom, 2022
  • Warrior Mine, Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine, Vol. 19, Seven Hills Media, Nigeria, 2021
  • Tek-Tek's Game, Other Side of Hope Vol 1, Other Side Of Hope Publishing, United Kingdom, 2021
  • What Bastet Saw, Undead Press, online, 2021
  • Imba YaSekuru Browne, Mosi-oa-Tunya Literary Review, Zimbabwe, 2021
  • The Rapture of Pastor Agregate Makunike, Chitungwiza Musha Mukuru: An Anthology From Zimbabwe's Biggest Ghetto Town, Mwanaka Publishing, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, 2020
  • Aquilina (kana kuti, Reururo yaHatifari Maforimbo, Belontos Books, United Kingdom, 2019, ISBN 978-1999707743
  • The Witch of Eskale Hall, "Creep" anthology, ed. Jay Chakravarti, Culture Cult Magazine, India, 2019, ISBN 978-1073442454
  • The Interplanetary Water Company, AfroSFv3, 2018, StoryTime, ISBN 978-9198291339
  • African Roar[20] (Anthology, contributed Yesterday's Dog,[21] a short-story) edited by E. Sigauke/I.W. Hartmann, Lion Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-9562422-8-0
  • Here be Cannibals, Jungle Jim #23, Afreak Press, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa,2014
  • When the Trees were Enchanted, Winter Tales, Fox Spirit Books, London, United Kingdom, 2014ISBN 978-1-909348-88-2
  • Chishamiso, Bookends, The Sunday Observer, Kingston, Jamaica, 2012
  • To The Woods, With A Girl, StoryTime e-zine, Sweden
  • In The Blood, StoryTime e-zine, Sweden, 2008
  • Framed, StoryTime e-zine, Sweden, 2008
  • The Village Idiot, Trends, Bulawayo, 2006

Acting

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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 Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands (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]

References

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  1. ^ [1] Archived June 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "TeesBlogs — The man from Zimbabwe, that writes on Teesside". Teesblogs.tumblr.com. April 29, 2015. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  3. ^ "Masimba Musodza". Africabookclub.com. November 17, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  4. ^ Musodza's Profile on Story Time ezine Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Masimba Musodza". Jungle Jim. May 8, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  6. ^ "Winter Tales". Foxspirit.co.uk. August 28, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  7. ^ "Read More African Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction Stories". December 23, 2022.
  8. ^ "First science fiction novel in ChiShona". Nehanda Radio. June 7, 2011. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Mark Bould (August 23, 2013). "African Sf: Introduction". Paradoxa. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  10. ^ ""Kunyora muChiShona" na Masimba Musodza". March 4, 2021. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  11. ^ "African SF". May 24, 2020.
  12. ^ https://fanac.org/fanzines/Vector/Vector289.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  13. ^ Writing and Publishing 'Complicated Stuff' in an African Language, Vector 289
  14. ^ "100 African Writers of SFF — Part Two: Writers in the U.K." November 2016.
  15. ^ Breakstone, David. "Masimba Musodza | The Blogs | The Times of Israel". Blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  16. ^ "Masimba Musodza".
  17. ^ "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]https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=181180
  21. ^ Review of Yesterday's Dog "Masimba Musodza - Yesterday's Dog | Damian Kelleher". Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  22. ^ "Easter Funnies 2 at Stockton Arc". March 28, 2012.
  23. ^ "Arc sketch group". July 9, 2012.
  24. ^ "Easter 2021 in Stockton-on-Tees, EN | Annual Easter Egg Hunt & Things to do in Stockton-on-Tees, EN".
  25. ^ "One Giant Leap |". fansonline.net. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012.
  26. ^ "Science fiction Shona novel print version".
  27. ^ "I, Daniel Blake: The trailer for Ken Loach's Palme d'Or-winner – video". The Guardian. June 15, 2016.
  28. ^ "BBC Four - MAKE! Craft Britain, Special - Embroidered Lampshade Workshop".
  29. ^ "I Need Help (2018) - IMDb". IMDb.
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