Zimpapers Logo

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent

Renowned playwright Raisedon Baya has penned his first novel, Shut Your Eyes & Run that he has described as a coming-of-age story with themes such as love, politics and survival.

The novel, if all goes according to plan, will be released this month.

Inspired by his upbringing in Makokoba, Bulawayo’s oldest township, the novel is rooted in Zimbabwe. “The book is basically a novella, a short novel. It’s what one would call a coming-of-age story. Growing up in Makokoba and discovering that the world is bigger than the township, the novella explores issues like love, the art of filmmaking, politics and survival. “It’s basically a work of fiction. All characters and events are imagined but like all work of fiction, it’s rooted in the reality of Zimbabwean life,” said Baya. With over 20 years writing short stories and stage plays, Baya said he always knew that one day, he would write a novel.

“Ever since I started writing, I always knew the end game; the ultimate writing projects would be novels. I grew up reading a lot and always told myself I would also contribute to literature one day. So, I started with short stories, then moved to plays and films, but the ultimate destination was always the novel form because of the challenge it offers,” said Baya.

He said the forthcoming novel is for everyone who loves literature and if all goes well, it will be turned into a film.

“The target market for the book is anyone who loves a good story, book lovers and lovers of stories. While it is a Zimbabwean story, the hope is that it’ll be good enough to be enjoyed by anyone who can read and loves a good story.

“If successful, the dream is to also turn it into a film and not a stage play. Why film? Because it’s a mobile story, it’s filmic and the main character is actually a filmmaker,” he said.

According to the writer, the journey of writing the book was not easy as he has had to self-publish.

“I’ve faced three main challenges. The first was finding a good editor. This wasn’t easy because I didn’t want people to be reading my work and finding mistakes. So, I had to ask a lot of people to help and the book went through over 10 hands. “Another issue was printing. A good print does not come cheap in Zimbabwe. That’s why we have people printing two or three copies or printing on demand because it’s very expensive.

“The third challenge is distribution of the book. It’s not ideal to write, publish and distribute your own book.

There’s just too much work so I’m hoping to get other people who’ll help me with distribution,” he said. Baya said the book is ready for release but he wants to take his time before he shares it with the public.

“The initial idea was to give amaBooks the book to publish, but then they relocated.

So, I had to make a bold decision to self-publish. And it’s not been easy as I didn’t want to rush it and do a shoddy thing,” he said. – @bonganinkunzi.