A captivating short story anthology

FOR those into Shona short story anthologies, the recently published “Gurungwa” will surely capture your imagination.

Written in rich, undiluted Shona, the 17 authors who contributed to the anthology tackled issues affecting the nation, such as child marriages, sexual abuse of minors and abuse of deceased estates.

Some of the short stories, such as Partson Zharare’s“Pane Nyaya mukwende”, are also humorous. The collection’s first short story, “Marweyi”by Aldous Mangadza, is a tragic but lively narrative in which an orphaned girl is married off to an old and polygamous man. After going through a horrendous forced marriage,“Marweyi”, the main character, is, in the end, freed and becomes a staunch human rights defender.

The story was written in a clever and gripping way such that it is difficult to break before the story ends.

“Wadarirei” by Tonderayi Matema encourages family members to love and respect each other without discriminating based on material possessions.

With a winding plot, readers are kept guessing as to what will unfold in the next paragraph. Pamela Phiri Hwenhira’s “Chivimbiso”is a rather sad reading, which, however, has a happy ending.

In this short story, the main character is Munyaradzi Mawere, a teacher whose young family is admired by the local community. After his death in a road accident, Munyaradzi’s grieving widow, Chivimbiso, is stripped of the family possessions by his late husband’s family.

Zharare’s “Pane Nyaya Mukwende” acts as a comic relief, with a storyline that revolves around three interesting characters — Machimbirike, Kambiro and Ngwenya.

In the story, the three are not only neighbours but also friends.

They embark on a journey to see one of the characters’ children, who attends boarding school. What happens on the way to the school will surely leave readers in stitches and gasping for breath.