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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent

2020 Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards (BAA) Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction winner Yvonne Maphosa recently launched a short story competition named Luvone to open doors for up-and-coming writers.

Luvone means lamp or light in Kalanga.

The inaugural competition that kicked off last month saw budding writers being given an opportunity to express and unpack their growth in penning stories.

In an interview from Plumtree where the South Africa-based author is visiting her family that resides in Mambale Village in Mangwe District, she said the competition which was wrapped up this month saw over 100 writers take part.

“Luvone captures the essence of this initiative as the competition is aimed at shining a light on undiscovered young writers and encourage them to shine through their words.

“Young people from the Matabeleland region submitted short stories for consideration. One hundred entries were received and from those, a panel of judges selected a long list of 16 stories and shortlisted four stories,” she said.

Maphosa said the 16 long-listed stories will be compiled into an Anthology of Short Stories. They will be published next year.

“The 16 long-listed stories will be included in an anthology curated by me, Philani A. Nyoni and Busisekile Khumalo that will be published in 2021. All writers will be duly credited for their work. This will encourage more people to read authentic stories from a region that has a lot to say, as well as market upcoming writers.”

The winning story was Body 215 by Kimberly T. Moyo while the three runners up were Into Paradise by Andile A. Dube, Divine Strings by Ashton R.M. Khumalo and Black Diamond by Lubelihle Sibanda. The winner received R2 500, five novels and a food hamper while the three runner ups received R1 000 each, five novels and food hampers.

Maphosa said she is passionate about highlighting the abundant talent in young writers hence why she came up with this competition to find, nurture and shine the spotlight on outstanding talent within the Matabeleland region.

“I’m very excited about this project and would like to extend a big thank you to all the contestants, judges, donors, readers, participants and everyone who supports community development initiatives,” she added.

– @mthabisi_mthire