After decades of performing on spoken word stages and writing thousands of lines of poetry, Batsirai Chigama launches her debut anthology, ‘Gather the Children’ in Harare tomorrow.

Hope Masike on mbira and Mangoma on drums will join Batsi at her launch with acoustic performances.

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Many of the poems in Gather the Children were inspired by the socio-political situation in Zimbabwe over the last 15 or so years which saw millions of people, young and old, leaving the country in search of better livelihoods. It’s about the ‘slipperiness of truth, the pain of forgetting’ says the synopsis of the book.

Chigama explained, “In the last ten years a lot of children became diaspora orphans, children left alone or with relatives because their parents had left for the diaspora to try and fend for them. MoneyGram, Western Union then Mukuru became the new conduit of communication and a show of love between estranged families. Marriages suffered and some collapsed as spouses could not relocate to be with their families due to visa issues.”

As with many Zimbabweans, Chigama found the situation a lot to deal with, “I was overwhelmed by the knowledge that home was burning. Her children were running to places where there were even more raging fires like racism and xenophobia.”

“What happened, dad?” Chigama asks in the poem ‘Dear Dad’ which seems to be directed at former Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe. In that poem she talks of the brilliance of a man who used to mesmerise millions with his eloquence, but then one day his words became corrosive, “Then the exodus began/ Now most of us are scattered in/ lands unwelcoming and hostile.”

In the poem “Silo Tongues” the question evoked is, “Why are we silent when we see bad things happening?” Chigama likens pregnant silence to storm clouds, “Sometimes in our silence, we gather storms under/ our Tongues. Stacking them like/ wood for the fire./ On the day lightning strikes/ whole bodies burn.”

The title poem of the collection was inspired by the Xenophobic attacks on Zimbabweans in South Africa. Chigama laments the pain that Africans face when they go off and live in other countries in search of better lives. “I mean the ones you exiled, choked with despair/ drove across borders with sjamboks of hunger/ now they gingerly carry the stripes/ even as death surrounds them.”

Gather the children - cover smallThe poem ends with a haunting exhortation; “Gather their whispering souls together/ before they are hushed, become soil/ in a land where their blood has no value.”

In putting the launch together Chigama has used brilliant visuals and multimedia. A number of Zimbabwean creatives volunteered their time to make it all happen. Rudo Chakanyuka created the first cover and provided illustrations for the book. Chiratidzo Chiweshe designed the cover and visual elements of the campaign for the book. Animator Tafadzwa Tarumbwa created an animation for the poem ‘Daughters of Fire’ and is working on animating two more poems. Enqore Mlilo’s Nafuna TV did a launch video. Fashion Designer Sabina Mutangadura worked on Batsi’s outfit for the launch. Photographer Henry O. Hakulandaba offered a shoot for Batsi. Exist Digital managed the marketing campaign.

The collection was edited by University of Zimbabwe lecturer, Memory Chirere.

Chigama said that she was beyond grateful for all the support she has received to make the publication and launch of the anthology possible.