Players in the creative sector in Zimbabwe have paid tribute to the late writer, poet and actor David Mungoshi (71) who passed away on Saturday.
National Arts Council of Zimbabwe Director Mr Nicholas Moyo, said Mungoshi was a multi-talented individual who excelled in various arts disciplines.
“The passing on Mungoshi has indeed left a huge void in the arts sector as he contributed to the development of the sector through mentoring and his invaluable insights as a panelist in the NAMA adjudication committee for the literary categories.” Moyo said.
Mungoshi is a 2010 National Arts Merit Award (NAMA) winner for his novel “The fading Son” written in 2009 which tackled issues of breast cancer and its effect on the patient, their spouse, family and friends. The book was put on the list of literature set books for schools.
Monica Cheru the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Writers association (ZWA) said Mungoshi left the world a richer place because of the caliber of his literary works.
“As a writer and editor of the highest caliber, Davids works are of a superb nature and will forever remain standards of writing to be emulated. David helped groom many upcoming and established writers. He was a simple and humble man who was willing to support other writers in the community”, Cheru said.
Philip Chidavaenzi the founder of Writers Clinic described Mungoshi as one of the country’s foremost authors, a revered English editor, distinguished linguist and literary critic.
“Those who have been in Writers Clinic since inception will recall that we were priviledged to rub shoulders with this literary giant who did a month-long series dubbed “Insights into Poetry” a few years back,” said Chidavaendzi.
In a tweet, Author and Founder of Intwasa Festival Raisedon Baya described the late Mungoshi as a gentle mentor.
“Aaaah No! David Mungoshi gone. Some years ago he edited my book, “Mountain of Silence”. Such a gentle fella. RIP”, Baya said.
Mungoshi is the author of “Broken Dream and other stories” (1987) “Stains on the wall” (1992) and “the Fading Son” (2009). He also contributed to Poetry with his works featured in many anthologies following his own collection of poems “Live like an artist” (2017) which is a retrospective arc populated by femme fatales, oral histories, metaphysical musings and coming of age diaries.
A former University of Zimbabwe linguistics lecturer, Mungoshi will also be remembered as an actor for his role as John Huni in the local groundbreaking soapie Studio 263. He also starred in other local film productions, “The postman” and Ngugi wa Mirii’ “Secrets” which he also assisted in editing dialoguing the scripts.