adminProblem Masau Arts Correspondent
Multi-award-WINNING author Christopher Gwata has published his fourth novel titled “Tears of Water”. The Marondera-based author used his teaching experience to capture the lives of teachers and students in a storyline that deals with education delivery, relationships and ambition.
The book is set in Zimbabwe in an imaginary place called Zhowe.
There are also conflicts of religion in characters such as Tsambadzai and Khiri. The author said the issues he highlighted are open for research and discussion.
“When authors write novels, they are inspired by what they see everyday. There are many themes that I tried to deal with when I penned the book,” he said.
He bemoaned the rampant piracy saying it was a major stumbling block for authors.
“We have many budding artistes in the country, but their efforts are derailed by piracy. It does not make sense to publish a book today and tomorrow the book is already in the street selling for peanuts.
“I think Government should come up with deterrent measures so that authors and other artistes do not sweat for nothing,” he said.
The book has also been recommended for use in schools and colleges as curriculum support.
A former schools manager, Gwata was born in 1941 and holds a Bachelor of Education degree (Honours) from Heriot Watt University in the United Kingdom.
He worked as a schoolteacher at various levels for 34 years.
He has also received a number of national and international awards including the 1983 London Commonwealth Secretariat Award for the outstanding paper on the teaching of mathematics in primary school, the Millennium Fellowship Award in 2002 in London and the National Arts Merit Award for outstanding fiction book.
Online Reporter