Zim poet intends to revive the Zimbabwean literary scene.

Award winning Zimbabwean poet and author, Batsirai Chigama is currently in the USA for an International Writers Programme in Iowa. The young poet said she has been inspired to com back home and implement what she has learnt so far. She stated that she has found some idess to revive the literacy scene in Zimbabwe.

The bubbly author said she has been given the opportunity to tinker around with ideas to help improve the literacy scene back home. She remarked,”It’s like a staple food here. It’s quite refreshing to be in a space where writing is normal…This has opened my eyes to how much work we can put to create spaces, as writers that allow interactive collaboration and possible revival of our literary scene”.

Chigama boasts of several local and I ternational awards such as the 2012 Italian Hosside World poetry competition award and scooping the second prize in the Stanza Poetry festival Digital Slam ahead of 8 other contestants from all over the world. Chigama said she has also been invited to speak at the Litfest 2019 on her experiences at the IWP.

She said Zimbabwe ought to adopt the reading and writing culture that is in Iowa which was named as the City of literature by UNESCO. She said her experiences there have been enriching and she woke up to a realisation that more work need to be done towards improving the Zinbabwean book industry. She also advised people to b proud of their mother tongue.