Zimpapers Logo

Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
IN the upper echelons of Zimbabwean’s literary history will always stand inspirational figures, dead or alive and one perennial individual worthy to be afforded legendary status is Barbara Clara Makhalisa Nkala.

In the year 1949, Gogo Nkala was born one who would rise to matriarch status. Gogo Nkala is a literary polymath with vast experience in the literature industry that dates back to the 1970s.

She describes herself as, “a person who grew up with a love for reading and writing.

A person who loves God and is thrilled to see people who are full of love, joy and peace.

I hate violent people and hostile environments.”

Gogo Nkala feels like literature got her, not vice versa in the sense that, irrespective of her love for reading and writing English, it was not always written in the stars that her career path would lead her to the pen.

Her love for authorship would be triggered by the discovery of indigenous authors.

“My literary journey began back in the day when we were introduced to compositions in primary school.

My favourite type of composition happened to be the creative prose where my creative juices would cascade down my veins.

I also cherished spending time with my granny who would tell us tales and that further whetted my appetite for literature.

“Professionally, the discovery of our own indigenous novel sired the love for writing.

Authors like Ndabezinhle Sigogo, Isaac Mpofu, David Ndoda and Lassie Ndondo inspired me to write and that was in the 50s right down to the 60s.

I wrote my first novel Qilindini when I was at Gwelo Teachers’ College.

Since then, there was no turning back,” relayed Gogo Nkala.

Her detective thriller written in Ndebele went on to win a national competition and became a hit for lovers of Ndebele literature, but her most prominent fictitious novel is Umendo which was published by Mambo Press in the late 1970s.

Gogo Nkala has achieved quite a lot academically and her curriculum vitae speaks massive volumes of her intellectual prowess.

She first obtained a Diploma in Education with the University College of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), then a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication with the University of South Africa (UNISA), and a Master of Arts in Leadership and Management with Africa Leadership and Management Academy (ALMA).

She was awarded a PhD by National University of Science and Technology in 2015 for her work in Education and Literature.

She taught in various secondary schools in the country before joining Longman Zimbabwe in 1981, where she rose to the position of commissioning editor for humanities subjects.

In 1991, she left Longman and worked in the family company for five years before being invited to head the International Bible Society-Zimbabwe (IBS Zimbabwe) as national director.

She was also in charge of the Chichewa Bible translation project in Malawi.

She co-ordinated the translation and publishing of the new IBS Shona and Ndebele Bibles, as well as a Chichewa New Testament.

She left IBS Zimbabwe and founded Radiant Publishing, whose vision is to publish for transformation.

Gogo Nkala is an author of fiction and non-fiction books published in both Ndebele and English languages.

Earlier works are under her maiden name Barbara Makhalisa.

She is an experienced editor, Ndebele translator, and an elder in her church. She has sat in a number of humanitarian boards.

Since 2016, she is the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Regional Representative for Southern Africa working with Anabaptist Churches in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The avid reader does not spare herself during her spare time. In fact, she hardly has any as she is a business woman and usually does what business people do; work.

“I hardly get spare time because I am busy most of the times and when I do get some time to unwind, I use it to strengthen blood ties as I spend a lot of my time catching up with family and friends, especially my sisters.

My best part of unwinding is taking strolls with my best friend and husband, Shadreck Nkala.

I love listening and singing along to gospel songs.

Talk shows are one of my favourites as well and that helps me relax,” said the Radiant Publishing house owner.

Gogo Nkala has three children and six grand-children.

Recently, she compiled and released an anthology of Ndebele poems titled Giya-Giya! Iqoqo Lenkondlo Zembongi Ezikuleli Lezisemazweni, and mentoring budding poets and authors has been one of her occupations.

She said she understands the need to pass on the torch to the younger generation for posterity’s sake as she was also mentored before and that led to her story “Different Values” appearing in Margaret Busby’s 1992 anthology Daughters of Africa.

Gogo Nkala is a matriarch with swagger indeed as, even in her golden days, she still reads fiction novels to her husband, a romantic move worth noting.

However, she was not always one of the best in the industry as she was once rough around the edges and needed some fine-tuning as well.

“Of course, there is no journey without hurdles.

One challenge that I faced was that I used to be told that I preach in my stories and it used to puzzle me because I was just being me and only what I am would ultimately turn out to appear in my novels.

Later on, that did not bother me at all as I understood that subjective beings are entitled to their different thoughts and feelings.

“Another challenge was that of proteges who felt neglected whenever I would move on to help other people in need of my services.

Most of the times, I get a lot of manuscripts to critique and give advice thereafter and most of the times, some individuals would think that their work would be a best-seller and giving them constructive criticism would be treading on thin ice as some would not accept it.

“One must find a way of not destroying the spirit in the process of trying to help them,” said the professional editor who usually does not charge for her services in the spirit of giving back to the community.

Did you know that Gogo Nkala is “a very open person who is married to a lazy reader when it comes to fiction and everything that I love.

Shadreck is a technical person who complements me well and he has always supported me in my journey.

He is a friend and cheerleader.”

Gogo Nkala’s most satisfying takeout from her journey is, together with her associates, establishing the Barbara Clara Makhalisa Nkala Literary Trust, a repository of her works and also her blog where she uploads content from other poets and authors she works with.

Over the years, Gogo Nkala has learnt not to write for money or for fame saying those should just be the perks that come with the profession. She writes because she enjoys using and sharing her God-given talent.

“I also learnt that producing top-notch work takes a lot of hard work and diligence as results take time to manifest and that there are a lot of frustrations along the way so patience does pay at the end of the day,” she said.

As a parting short, Gogo Nkala had some wise words to share with budding creatives.

“Sometimes, young people fall into the trap of being want-to-bes and by so-doing, lose themselves in the process.

You cannot all be Yvonne Veras, you cannot all be Shimmer Chinodyas and so, pursue your own style and there is always a place in the literary world for your kind of authorship.

Do that wholeheartedly and God will always do the rest.”

– @eMKlass_49