Mawu to publish women anthology

Malawi Writers Union (Mawu) president Mike Sambalikagwa Mvona says his union will publish a women anthology later this year to create room for the country’s women to expose their writing talents.

Mvona said this having conducted a two-day writers’ workshop to empower budding writers, especially women, with basic knowledge and skills on how to write worthy short stories.

He said Malawi has talented female writers who can stand out on the international writing market, but lack of skills and exposure are major setbacks.

One of the facilitators, Zondiwe Mbano, said good short stories need to have a situation, problem, solution and outcome.

“If a story lacks the above cited structures then it is incomplete and it becomes useless to the readers,” he said.

Kingsley Jika, another facilitator at the workshop, echoed Mbano’s sentiments and added that there is need for patience if a writer is to thrill in the writing industry.

“Make sure that readers should be able to see, hear, feel, smell and taste whatever you have written in the story,” he said.

One of the participants to the workshop, Clara Chikuni, described the training as a valuable instrument to her writing career as it has initiated her to new skills of writing.

“The workshop has brought desire in female writers to have passion for writing and we are optimistic that we will write good stories for public consumption,” she said.

Mvona called on women countrywide to invest in writing if the country is to have knowledgeable and prolific female writers.

“We produced the last women anthology in 2003 and the impending anthology seeks to address the challenges women face to have their works published,” he said.