The woman who refused to bury her daughter

Bruce Ndlovu , Sunday Life Reporter

ERICA Gwetai does not believe that her daughter, the legendary Zimbabwean author, Yvonne Vera completely left this earth when she died.

Vera was only 40 when she passed on in 2005 and as it would be for any parent losing a child at such a “tender” age, it was hard for any parent to accept.

At that age, there was still a lot of living and writing to do for the literature goddess.

It is often said that no parent should ever bury their child but this is something that Gwetai had to do. And yet, in another sense, Gwetai refuses, even now, to bury her daughter.

Since the death of Vera, who passed on with the fear of leaving an unfinished novel, Gwetai has taken it upon herself to continue her daughter’s literary legacy.

Eighteen years after her daughter’s death, Gwetai believes that Vera continues to live in her and she is the reason why she continues to churn out books fairly regularly. This, at least, is something that she had to tell herself to come to terms with the passing of her daughter.

“My own belief is that she is proud of what I have done,” she told Sunday Life in an interview.

“My own belief is that she sees and she is with me. To accept this death, I had to believe that I am with her, she is within me. I would say she is so proud of me because I took over her legacy and continued writing. I didn’t let her down because otherwise people would say she tried writing after her child but she failed. I did it and I am still doing it and I’m sure she’s so proud of me, wherever she is.”

By attempting to enhance her daughter’s legacy, Gwetai has done something rare and, to some people at least, unimaginable. In literature and other walks of life, it is usually the children who are burdened with furthering their parents’ legacies.

In a reversal of roles, however, Gwetai took on the task of keeping her daughter’s one true love, literature, alive.

“I feel like I am making her happy because what I am doing is very rare. People might not have noticed this but how many mothers or parents take over their children’s legacy? Usually, it is the other way round whereby a son or whatever takes over what a parent used to do. It is very rare that a mother takes over from the daughter and does it diligently and continues to do so as I have done. That is something that means a lot to me,” she said.

Last month, Gwetai was given an honorary award by the ROIL Bulawayo Arts Awards. For the veteran author, the gong that now sits in her home is the ultimate recognition that her efforts to keep Vera alive have not been in vain.

“I think that honour made me feel like I have lived a full life. You know in life, there are things that you wish to achieve and sometimes you do but sometimes you don’t. This one made me feel that I have done that because there is nothing that is beautiful as being honoured by your own people. The hardest is to be honoured by your own people because even our own Jesus had a hard time being honoured to the extent that he was killed. So I know that this is no small feat and to me it’s better than being recognised by people from Britain, America or wherever,” she said.

Gwetai said the honour had spurred her to write even more. However, whenever she picks up the pen, Gwetai keeps her cards close to the chest, thus does not want to divulge the nature of her latest work.

“As far as I am concerned, the book I wrote previously is not the last because I am now in the middle of writing another one. I guess this is what they mean when they refer to writers as prolific. I’ve been consistent in my writing. Some might say they haven’t been doing anything for five years. I haven’t been doing that because I have been consistent since the time

I started writing and I think I won’t stop until I exit the world. That is my promise.

“When I am writing a new book, I like to keep things private. It’s not all of us that are honest because you can say I am writing this and then someone who is a bit faster than you takes the idea and finishes it before you do. I always protect my work. However, I am happy that I have written in all genres. I have written novels, I have written short stories and I have written a biography and in all these, I have got raving reviews. This is something that I am proud of because there are people who write 100 books of the same thing,” she said.

Despite the pleasure she derived from getting honoured in her hometown, Gwetai has concerns. Over the last few years, she has noticed a shift as people neglect literature, spending most of their time on gadgets instead.

“I am Bulawayo woman who grew up in Luveve and so this means a lot to me. However, I also have advice for people in the city. Even though we have phones and other gadgets where they can read, this does not mean that we have to let the novels and other sources of literature die. Those who have children, particularly those at school, should encourage them to read.

You must instil a reading culture in your children. Set aside days where you ask them to put aside their phones and just concentrate on reading. I am not against technology. In fact, I embrace it and so I say let’s balance these things. In my latest book, I actually wrote about people that are addicted to their cellphones. There are some women who neglect their children while glued to their phones. So, I am saying while we embrace technology, let’s try to balance it,” she said.