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Erica Gwetai

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
“THE legacy of the late Dr Yvonne Vera lives on through me and I’ll continue writing in order to honour my daughter,” says her mother Erica Gwetai.

Gwetai who took up the mantle to write books some years after her daughter’s death in 2005, said she started writing because she wanted to carry on her daughter’s legacy.

“I know how she loved writing and that’s the main reason why I started writing. I felt she left behind a legacy that I had to carry on and wherever she is, I think she’s happy seeing me writing or taking over the yoke,” said Gwetai.

One of Gwetai’s books Petal Thoughts spells out the life of her late daughter from a mother’s perspective until her untimely death at the age of 40 in Canada, where she was based. Gwetai said while it is not easy to emulate her illustrious daughter, she is doing her best to keep her legacy alive.

“Although I’m carrying on with my daughter’s legacy, it’s not easy. I don’t want to try to emulate her because she was in a league of her own. All I want to do is to tell stories the best way I can,” said Gwetai.

Most times, people think Gwetai taught Yvonne to write, but that is not the case as her only contribution to Vera’s prolific writing was telling her stories.

“Most of the stories that Yvonne wrote were from the stories I told her. She came from a family of storytellers and I’d share them with her.

“Just because she was a person who studied English at a higher level, she was able to express wonderfully the stories,” said Gwetai who is working on her sixth yet-to-be-named book.

Speaking on her career, Gwetai who has been writing for the past 10 years and has seen the ins and outs of the sector, says nothing much has changed as women are still marginalised.

“As long as women do not have and own spaces to perform in, they’ll still be marginalised. To be an artiste, you need space but these spaces are owned or leased by men – galleries, theatres and all.”

She said change was necessary as it was crucial to have more women in key decision making posts in the arts sector.

“Look at the Zimbabwe Government, we’ve had ministers such as Andrew Langa, Makhosini Hlongwane and now Kazembe Kazembe. All arts ministers we have had are men. Also in the media, the editors of most newspapers and radio stations are mostly men,” said Gwetai.