Welcome > About Ignatius
About Ignatius
A bullet point biography of a man who is shooting through conventional forms of literary expression...
- Ignatius Mabasa is currently working as the Deputy Director of British Council in Zimbabwe.
- His deep passion is creative writing, storytelling and poetry. He mainly writes in his mother language- Shona.
- He released his first music CD under the Ngaavongwe Records label in 2007. The CD is titled Yadhakwa, a Gospoetry Album and is a fusion of gospel poetry and music.
- He was born in Mt Darwin at Karanda Mission Hospital and grew up at his grandfather’s farm in Chesa herding cattle and eating nhopi “pumpkin porridge”. His father Augustine Pururudzayi Chikomba Mabasa was an accountant and strong supporter of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. He died in a landmine blast in 1975.
- After his father’s death, Ignatius moved to Salisbury (now Harare) to live with his aunt and her husband – Josphat Chiratidzo Madhafi. A big fine policeman who kept peculiar whiskers.
- He did his schooling at Tomlison Police Depot, Essexvale Primary in Esigodini and Chinembiri in Chitungwiza. He later went to Seke 3 High, Oriel Boys and Harare High School.
- He badly wanted to study law at the Univeristy of Zimbabwe but was given a place for a BA degree in Shona and
Linguistics. After his first degree he went back for a post-graduate diploma in Media and Communications hoping to be a journalists but left for Oslo, Norway for an MPhil in Media, Democracy and Development. - He developed a love for words from his grandmother vaMazvirega Chirisa who had the most apt way to describe behaviours and who was also a great storyteller. Her brother John Simbarekutaya Chirisa was also one of the most eloquent speakers Ignatius says he has ever come across. His own paternal grandfather Muzanenhamo Mabasa completed the circle – he loved riddles and reasoning games. He used to ask him to read the Bible to him in the evenings.
- Ignatius wrote his first serious creative piece when he was in form 1 at Seke 3 High. It was a Shona composition Zuva Randisingakanganwe. His Shona teacher then, Ms Shelter Kaseke was so impressed that she gave him a 24/25 mark and asked him to go and read the composition to teachers in the staff room. Since then he hasn’t looked back.
- He is currently writing what he thinks will be his last novel – it has a working title Rufu Rwechipiri. His first novel Mapenzi won the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Best Shona Novel of the Year award in 1999 before being nominated as one of Zimbabwe’s 75
Best Books of the Century. His second novel, Ndafa Here? is with the printers. - He is translating Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions from English into Shona.
- Ignatius is married to Conelia and they have 2 boys, Samuel Takura and Paul Kutenda.
- His favourite novel of all time is Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva by Charles Mungoshi. He also likes Andre Brink’s A Chain of Voices, Knut Hamsun’s Hunger, Memory Chirere’s Tudiki-diki, Enerst Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.
- Ignatius likes music but says he has a terrible discord.
- He loves God and enjoys preaching/teaching the word of God.
