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About The Author
Thomas Sukutai Bvuma was born in 1954 in Marondera. He attended St Augustines' Secondary School, after which he went to the then University of Rhodesia. He left his studies in the second year and went to join the liberation struggle in Mozambique.
The core poems in this collection were written between 1979 and 1981 at Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, where Bvuma was studying linguistics and literature. In 1982 he joined the Ministry of Information and was posted as information attache to Zimbabwean embassies in Maputo, London and Washington DC.
Bvuma later obtained a post graduate diploma in media and communication studies from the University of Zimbabwe as well as a Master of Philosophy degree in Media Studoes from the University of Oslo. He is currently the deputy editor of The Herald.
Every Stone That Turns
'The real poetry
- Was carved across centuries
Of chains and whips
It was written in the red streams
Resisting the violence of 'effective occupation"
So sings Bvuma in this collection of intricately woven poems. Bvuma gives a fresh and most rewarding insight into the spiritual and physical tribulations of those who sacrificed home, limb and life in order to fight for the nation's liberation. He portrays the liberation struggle in the wider context of the African people's struggle against slavery and imperialism.
His sombre voice also takes a peep at the post-colonial situation and sadly reports that there is little to celebrate for, as the era is plagued by betrayal, frustration and suffering:
'The real poetry
Is sweat scouring down
The baked valley of the peasant's back
Down to the starved gorge of
his buttocks.'
Cover photographs by courtesy of Ministry of Information
COLLIGGE PRESS
COLLIGECRERSS
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Every Stone That Turns
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Thomas Sukutai Bvuma
poetry series