BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO NOVELIST Obvious Dziwanyika is over the moon after his novel Chomubako was chosen as an Advanced Level setbook by the Zimbabwe School Examination Council (Zimsec) for the next two years. The novel, which was published by Progressive Publishers, centred on a pre-colonial fictitious story about a boy called Chomubako, the great grandson of a king, who was killed during a raid, marking the end of his father’s kingship. The deceased’s spirit later influences Chomubako to stand up and fight for his throne against the then cruel king. Dzangare did not hesitate to kill suspected rebels. The brave fighter then provokes Dzangare and he becomes the most wanted person on the land. He flees from the country and later comes across his relatives in a foreign land. They then plan a comeback and fight the cruel king who had a very large army. Because of unity and intelligence, they managed to confuse Dzangare and won the battle. Subsequently, Chomubako becomes king. Dziwanyika told NewsDay Life & Style that although he was excited by such a milestone, he fears that piracy could erode the fruits of his sweat. “This is my first solo project. It has instilled confidence in me as almost every writer dreams of this recognition. It shows that my writing met the demands of the Zimsec syllabus. I am looking forward to working on more publications that will impact the lives of the young people,” he said. “Although I am expecting this to come with financial benefits as schools buy copies of the book, my greatest fear is piracy. I am encouraging schools to buy original copies to fight this cancer.” Dziwanyika said he was planning to compose a song on how piracy kills creativity. “We need to continue fighting piracy because in future, it will affect learners who are tomorrow’s writers,” he said. Apart from Chomubako, Dziwanyika has made contributions to a 2020 anthology Chainga Chenduri, published by Essential Publishers, as well as Makore Asina Mvura, a short stories’ anthology by Bhabhu Books. Follow us on Twitter @NewsDayZimbabwe

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