adminGERMANY-BASED author, Phillip Gwatidzo, is on cloud nine.
The writer’s elation comes after his novel titled “Changamire Dombo” was recommended as a set book for Advanced Level curriculum from next year.
H-Metro’s Nyasha Kada (NK) caught up with the 32-year-old writer who is celebrating the success of his debut novel.
NK: What does this mean to you as an author?
PG: It is an absolute honour of highest standards to have academics review your work and not only give positive feedback but consider the material worth sharing with students nationwide.
I am sure many students feel something close when they submit their thesis, and the supervisor gives rave reviews.
Until that point I have always been a bit shy to be referred to as an author but now I feel encouraged to work on other writing projects because of the acknowledgement I received by the book being accepted for the new curriculum.
The intention was always to share and inspire a sense of pride in our history and culture, from a very young age, and there is no better way to do that than becoming part of our formalised education system.
NK: Give us a brief summary of the book and what is it all about?
PG: Changamire Dombo has 24 chapters, 176 pages and was officially published on the 1st of April 2021.
It has done extremely well on the international scale having reached over 30 countries in all five continents.
There have been a lot of positive reviews from a very diverse readership in the process.
NK: How do you think the book will benefit the Advanced Level students and the general reader in Zimbabwe.
PG: I personally think the book will be beneficial to every African person across the globe from the young to elderly, because of the importance of the historical facts it points out.
It highlights a self-believing man from a background most of us can relate to, who takes those unbiased strides towards who he was meant to be, and achieves greatness for him and his people.
“The situations around him did not deter him and his success was measured by how well he did for his people.
“I genuinely believe when children get to be told these and many other historic events that inspire pride, they take steps towards the adult world with their heads held high and encouraged to achieve something similar for their people.
“It is my belief that Changamire Dombo will ignite a sense of pride in our culture and traditions and a better equipped youth when one graduates from a micro society that school is, into the diverse world we live in, a wise old man once said to me, “if you don’t know who you are, you will be whatever they tell you to be.”
– The final part of this exclusive interview will be carried in tomorrow’s edition of H-Metro.
Online Reporter