Know your author: Gono

He was born on February 7, 1969 at Morgenster Mission Hospital in Masvingo. His father Benson (senior) worked as a journeymen printer and mother Jemina worked at Morgenster Mission Post Office.

The fourth of five siblings, Gono says all of his father’s family members were into printing except for one of his sisters who is a teacher and that had a bearing on him trying his hand into publishing.

Gono attended Morgenster Primary school from Grade One to Seven before moving to Chibi Mission in the same province for Junior certificate. He was to transfer to Mufakose 1 High School in Harare where he did his Ordinary Level education and later enrolled at Chipindura High School in Bindura for Advanced Level.

“I started writing stories when I was very young. I remember when I was in primary school, I used to like writing English and Shona compositions. My teacher would always commend me for my compositions which they said were always a marvel.

“At Chipindura High School, I became a self appointed sports reporter and many of my reports would be pinned on the school notice board for all to read. I enjoyed this fame that spurred me into trying to beat my previous works,” he said.

On completion of high school, Gono worked as a temporary teacher at Mukai High School in Highfield from 1989 to 1991 before enrolling at the Harare Polytechnic to study for Library Science Certificate in 1992.

In 1993 he joined Time Publication which published SportTimes Magazine as a cadet reporter before joining Environmental and Development Activities (ENDA) Zimbabwe as an Information Officer in 1994.

Gono was to join Econet Wireless 1998 as a customer care executive where he worked for two years before moving Hurst Media in the year 2000. He left the company in 2001 and joined the United Nations World Food Programme as a Public Affairs Assistant.

In a continuous search for greener pastures, Gono moved to Print Originators now ART Corporation as a senior sports reporter for Sport Kick Magazine. In 2010 the company restructured and Gono chose to go on voluntary retirement.

Since then Gono has been working as a media consultant and has been a freelance writer focusing mainly on sports and environmental issues and has been a member of the Zimbabwe Environmental Journalists Association (ZEJA) from its formation.

“After I joined Zeja, I realised that there was no Shona literature which talked about climate change and its effects on the people. I then decided to combine my writing skills and my knowledge in the subject to enlighten people that climate change is real and a very important subject which however lacked prominence. It is high time that our people know that climate change can cost lives if the necessary steps are not taken.”

In 2012 Gono compiled all his ideas and took about two months to write a book titled “Pepukai Kunze Kwasunama”.

“When I wrote the book I first gave it to my friends Gilbert Munetsi and Langton Nyakwenda and they encouraged me to publish it. Munetsi as the Zeja secretary general acknowledged that climate change was an important issue which deserved to be prioritised so that people are made aware of the changes in the world,” Gono said.

After several attempts to get the book published locally, Gono was introduced to Sowfin Investment based in Botswana and they seemed impressed by the book and they agreed to publish it.

“My parents always encouraged me to leave a legacy that can define who I was and what I stood for in life. They told me that I need to have something that will outlive me for future references to generations to come,” he said.

Gono is working on a second book to be released around October 2013 titled “Kamoto Kamberevere” which is a collection of short stories. The book highlights the problems that were brought about by the coming of technology, crime, gender-based violence especially perpetrated against men who on many occasions find it difficult because of their ego to come out in the open and tell of their ordeal.

The book also touches on other issues like suicide and the recent increase in people performing miracles and their impact on our day to day lives.

“It is my ambition that by the end of 2014, I would have written four books to my name and I am currently working on another book on climate which is my passion and concern. If we do not address climate issues now it will affect us and mainly those in the rural and farming settlements who do not have adequate resources to finance themselves in case of a natural disaster,” he added.

Gono is a holder of a Diploma in Public Relations, he has certificates in Publishing (University of Edinburgh, Scotland), Video Production (Media for Development Trust), Newspaper Page Design (British Council), Geographic Information Science (University of Zimbabwe).

He is a single parent and father to Tapiwanashe Kenneth Gono who is in Form Three.