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Auxilia Katongomara Entertainment Reporter
THE translation of a local short story anthology, Where to Now Short Stories from Zimbabwe, from English language to isiNdebele is now complete.
The anthology will be launched during the Zimbabwe International Book Fair at the Large City Hall in Bulawayo from March 28 to 29.

The book, a collection of stories by 16 Zimbabwean writers, has been translated to isiNdebele from English and will be titled Siqondephi Manje, Indatshana ZaseZimbabwe.

The translation of the 150-page anthology began last year and was done by Witwatersrand University-based Dr Thabisani Ndlovu.

Brian Jones, director of amaBooks, said: ‘‘We are excited to be publishing our first book in isiNdebele. The other 30 titles have all been in English.

“Where to Now, which was co-published by Parthian Books in the United Kingdom, has been very well received in Zimbabwe and we think it’s the ideal choice for our first translation.

“The new publication fits in well with the theme of the 2014 book fair: Indigenous Languages, Literature, Art and Knowledge Systems of Africa,” said Jones.

In the preface to Siqondephi Manje, Indatshana ZaseZimbabwe, Dr Ndlovu wrote: “One of the key aims in undertaking this translation is to contribute towards the development of the isiNdebele language by encouraging writers to write in this language.

“As such, it was a most opportune moment to translate some of the well-written Zimbabwean stories in English to isiNdebele.”

He also pointed out that isiNdebele was still very much alive though the challenge was few publications.

“Some people say isiNdebele is dying. What I agree with them is that we have a dearth of books in the language, publications of such being too few and far between.  But the language itself is very much alive and vibrant. Currently, isiNdebele is not the same as isiNdebele of 20 years ago. Times change and so do people and their languages. That is how English grew – borrowing words and quickly incorporating them into the English lexicon,” wrote Ndlovu.

He added that as a translator, one of his key duties was to make sure that the translation was as close to the original text as possible, having taken into account the cultural context of the Ndebele people.