Three Zimbabwean writers – Emmanuel Sigauke, Tinashe Mushakavanhu and Christopher Mlalazi – discuss the state of Zimbabwean literature, writing from the Diaspora, what is African literature among other literary issues. In this candid roundtable discussion, they question the direct nature of literature and its suitability in chronicling moments of unique political and social significance. In a country like Zimbabwe, which exists to the West as a flurry of news reports and political upheavals, literature attains an importance that it rarely enjoys in Britain or America: it becomes a necessary thing, essential to the survival of the self. A sobering set of first-hand accounts accompanied by revealing anecdotes about writing and reading experiences influenced by the three writers’ collusion with many cultures and worlds in their different journeys.

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Sometimes I figure Zanu PF in its parochial propaganda and smear campaign gives Morgan Tsvangirai too much deist powers. I don’t think Zimbabweans will take to the streets simply because “Tsvangirai told them to.” If any revolution  is to be televised here, it will follow the standard set in the troubled North: the people themselves will take charge, not some politician being credited with inspiring mass protests as if the people were unthinking zombies. We already know what happened here before about that attempt at “organised” street marches so we won’t bother dwell on  the thesis of street any percieved protests being ostensibly led by someone who himself is a player in the power games. So if Zanu PF believe Tsvangirai will lead “peace loving people” into orgies of anarchy, well Zimbabweans have every right to feel insulted. This century’s revolutionaries certainly do not need a figure head, just the politics of the belly – among other body parts -  are enough to push grannies and teenagers to the streets. Tsvangirai the fall guy. Go figure.

From Business-ethics.com:

When the Egyptian government created a partial communications blackout on Thursday, shutting Internet and cell-phone service, it asked for the cooperation of foreign mobile phone companies. UK-based Vodafone complied, saying it had no choice but to cut service.

In a statement issued Saturday, Vodafone said the Egyptian government would have been able to shut the network itself anyway, all within the bounds of Egyptian law. Mobinil, another major provider, which is owned in part by France Telecom, also complied.

Did they have any choice?

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Some of our SMS subscribers do – But not all of them! We asked them this very question, and here are a few of their replies:

• Plenty of Egyptian. Would need plenty of camaraderie
• Thanx . As activists, we are monitoring the Egypt crisis. Pro Mubarak are now disturbing the wave of change, If others can change, can we? Yes we can!
• That’s the stuff  im made of , together we can do it
• Yaah full of Egyptian spirit
• Yes Egyptian style acceptable here. I think the real face of Africans has been exposed, need for blacks and muslims to uprise against dictators
• I don’t do it the Egyptian way, I do it through the ballot, It is more civilised.
• It started in Tunisia , now in Egypt, who is next
• Sorry, this naturally not the land of the Pharoahs!
• The Egyptians have shown us we can do the same here if we stand together and speak with one voice even with the threat of live bullets. I’m ready!
• The Egyptian revolution is very interesting and a clear warning to other tyrants that their days are also numbered. Dictators always fall with a bang. God bless Egypt!

You can’t be apolitical. It will come and get you. It’s not that you shouldn’t be neutral. It’s that you won’t be able to stay neutral.
- Christopher Hitchens

“If you watch cartoons these days you get this depressing feeling that it’s all been done before and it’s not new, and I think my idea takes a different angle. And how many movies do you get by an African screenwriter? How many cartoons do you get by an African screenwriter? I think Africa is a market that the West needs to tap into right now. ” – Mirirai Moyo, on why she wants her story, Belonging made into an animated film.

She went on to say:

“The government gives so much money for soccer or sports events and this is only 90 minutes and then it’s over. You invest in art, literature, for example, lasts forever. The government needs to invest in the arts. There are so many kids out there who can write. One of the things that I find frustrating is the way people treat writing like a hobby. I was watching a movie with a friend, and at some point the main character says he’s a writer and the old lady who lives upstairs goes; “Isn’t that a hobby?” then my friend says ‘Yah, but I’ve always thought it’s a hobby’. But I’m like you think that at some point I’m going to fold up my books and do something serious, are you implying that this is not serious?’

We need to appreciate that people can make a living from art. Not everybody wants to be a professor, or lecturer or an accountant. People want to do different things and we need to invest in the creative industry. And you know ZIFA has got ZIFA village, all they need to do is start a writer’s village somewhere. I mean why is it that they don’t want to invest in the arts? What are they afraid of?”

- Mirirai Moyo on government investment in the arts