Saturday, March 5, 2011

Belonging for ‘A’ Level Study!

This past week, I learnt that ‘In the Continuum and Other Plays’, the textbook which features four plays including ‘Belonging’ has been  (in my publishers words)... put on the A-level list of prescribed texts! This means local school children are going to be reading Mirirai Moyo (okay, my work...) along with Ibsen, Pinter and Wilde!
While this will not be putting me anywhere near the JK Rowlings et al earnings bracket, it is an incredibly satisfying (emotionally- hey, money's not everything!) achievement.

When I think of the authors that have sat in those classrooms before me- Chinua Achebe, Ngugi waThiongo, Shimmer Chinodya, Charles Mungoshi, Yvonne Vera, Tsitsi Dangerembga amongst others and the great man of words, ah yes- Shakespeare himself (this is the point where I swoon), I have this indescribable feeling deep inside. To tread (even if it is just in mincing tiptoes) where such great literary luminaries have gone is humbling. And it reminds me of how much further I have to (and want to) go.

And the idea that young people all over my country are going to be reading my work, putting their interpretations to my words is truly incredible... and I must say, daunting. I hope that they come away from the story of Kuku having learned something about life... as they certainly will from the other plays:
In The Continuum by Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter
When I Meet My Mother by  Kathleen McCreery
Power Failure by Jide Olugbenga Afolayan
And most important of all, I hope they derive the same pleasure in reading In the Continuum and Other Plays as I did (and still do) in the books that have moulded my thinking to this point in my life.


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