Regina Mundi girl wins Cover to Cover Competition
Before I say anything, it’s okay Shay, you can scream as loudly as you want. Yes, I know, that’s the same school you went to. Yay! I am really thrilled…
And I am. Fo sho. heh, heh. I’ve been wanting to use those words for some time now. Anyway, to the meat of the matter- in the picture above is Makhosazana Moyo of Regina Mundi pictured earlier on this evening receiving her prize- one of them- after being announced the overall winner of the 2008 Cover to Cover Short Story Writing competition.
Listen, it’s been a long day and I’m a bit sleepy so maybe I should do the rest of this post tomorrow morning, ya? Unfortunately for me I have just been listening to a Tony Robbins CD and his words of inspiration are ringing loudly in my head. “Our lives are shaped in the moments of DECISION!” “Use pain and pleasure and don’t let them use you!” Ok Tony, I DECIDE to bear the PAIN of fatigue, focus on the PLEASURE of writing and finish this post. Happy now?!
Ok, where was I. Makhosazana. Yes, she won the 2008 edition of the competition which is now in it’s third year. She received a whole heap of prizes including hampers, US$300 from the British Council, some Zim dollar cash from The Standard, a year’s tuition fully paid by the World Bank and other goodies.
Makhosazana (14), of Regina Mundi High School in Gweru, was one of the few entrants in the competition to pick the topic; “The season promised a bumper harvest”.
“The old adage ‘You reap what you sow’ constantly lingered in my mind throughout my long agonising preparations for my greatest opportunity to real life. I dug into every relevant book, sat at my computer desk for long hours until I got saturated with data from the Internet, and talked to people who mattered about the subject. Yes, I was ready, ready for the day that would change my life.” reads her story in part.
The second prize went to Sheilah Danda (16) of Girls High School in Harare (Pictured receiving her prize from Group CEO of the Zimbabwe Independent & The Standard, Mr Raphael Khumalo. In the backgound is Rajiv Bendre, Director of the British Council).
Third prize was awarded to Evans Fundira (right) of Mpopoma High School in Bulawayo. Evans was more overtly thrilled than his fellow winners and jumped up and down in excitement when he heard that part of his prize was US$75.
The awards dinner, held at the Meikles Hotel in Harare, which sponsored accommodation for out of town students and their parents, was attended by representatives from the British Council, Stanbic Bank, The World Bank, World Vision, The Standard and Nestlé Zimbabwe- all co-sponsors of the event. Also present were members of the writing fraternity.
Somewhere in the room, Shimmer Chinodya’s infectious baritone laugh thundered away and David Mungoshi was telling another comic tale to a table of attentive guests.
I heard Chirikure Chirikure do a traditional Shona greeting to a bemused young woman while Noel Marerwa spoke to someone about a forthcoming play.
The key note address was given by Dr Pocock who is the Zimbabwean representative of Her Majesty the Queen of England.
Here’s to a new generation of great writers!
The winners 2008 (L to R): Evans Fundira, Sisasenkosi Mandi, Tariro Kudzoyashe Murwira, Do Hwa Kim, ?? (oops), Faith Barara, Gamila Elmaadawy, Sheilah Danda, ?? (oops again) and Mercy Mukanganwa.
Other students who got their stories published in a magazine containing the winning entries were Chido Muchemwa, Shamima Umerji, Hellen Tsitsi Masango, Hope Chikombera, Rodney Mushonga, Onelly Madziro, Zwilakhe Gugulabo Mgutshini, Boitsepo Nyathi, Tanaka Chingonzoh and Ryan Nyahunzvi.
- See also Zimbabwe is short story country for the speech by the head judge Ruby Magosvongwe
Written by fungaijames on September 5th, 2008 with
2 comments.
Read more articles on Literature.
- [+] Digg: Feature this article
- [+] Del.icio.us: Bookmark this article
- [+] Furl: Bookmark this article
Unofungei? Unoitei? I capture the stories that often escape the lenses of big media. I record the life of a pregnant nation. This is a door into the country that I love. These are my thoughts. These are my memories... 
#1. September 6th, 2008, at 9:05 AM.
Hey dude!. You wrote so much about Makhosazana Moyo and when it came to recognising her with the group you forgot her name. You must have been really sleepy!!