What inspires you to write poetry?

Life experiences in general. I am very observant and I feel things around me intensely. I express my feelings and opinions better in writing. Poetry is like a window to my soul and to the world, it allows me the freedom to explore, imagine and feel.

How does it make you feel to be part of a published anthology?

I am excited. I have always written for myself but it suddenly feels good to express myself for the world. It feels like a coming out of sorts.

Do you face any challenges as a Zimbabwean woman poet?

These are my first poems in the Zimbabwean poetry scape and I only wish that my being a woman will not be a hindrance to my poetry expression in the country. 

Briefly describe your writing journey, from how you started to where you are today.

I have always been a good writer and reader even. I was that kind of student who wrote compositions that my teachers would ask me to read out to the whole class because they were that good. So, I have written a lot from as far back as my primary school days. Only I am an introvert and have kept most of my writings to myself and shared some with close friends and colleagues with a few teasers on my social media statuses. Some of the poems in the collection are coming out of a mature and emotional phase in my personal life. I guess this marks a new and bolder phase in my writing and I hope to work on more publications. 

How do you want your work to be remembered?

I want my work to resonate with many readers in their diverse experiences. I want my work to be remembered as speaking to real life situations and as a therapeutic outlet for people who need to feel and to heal.

Would you like to share anything about yourself to help your readers connect with you?

I am just a dreamer with a wild imagination and a stickler for creativity and self-expression. I love being a woman and I care for women and girls’ experiences. I love women’s stories and I dream of more spaces and places where women can tell their stories. I am a mother of boys!

Who is your favourite poet and why?

I do not have any favourite poet. As a student of literature, poetry wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I have read poems across the spectrum from the metaphysical poets to African poets – quite a wide range actually from Shakespeare, W. B Yeats, John Donne, Phyllis Wheatley to Senghor, Diop, Freedon Nyamubaya, Blessing Musariri, Batsirai Chigama, Memory Chirere, Tanaka Chidora, Samantha Vazhure and many others. What I can be sure about is that I just love poems that resonate with lived realities, with my personal experiences and my emotions. 

What are your future writing aspirations?

I don’t want my writing to be limited to poetry, but time will tell. I am all for versatility so I look forward to experimenting with different forms.

What is your biggest dream?

My biggest dream is to tell women’s stories in various forms. To be part of the myriad of voices that speak to important matters affecting people across the world, especially from a human-woman’s perspective.