Loading AI tools
Julius Masimba Musodza (born 29 March 1976) is a Zimbabwean author.
Musodza was born at the cusp of the emergence of the new Zimbabwe, the eldest son of a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Lands. The Musodza family are of the Buja people of Mutoko , north east Zimbabwe. Reading was encouraged in the Musodza household. He was educated at Avondale Primary School, Harare and St Mary Magdalene's High School, Nyanga. After school, he trained as a screenwriter, selling his first screenplay to Media For Development Trust in 2002. Barely a month after, as political and socio-economic uncertainty engulfed Zimbabwe, Musodza relocated to the United Kingdom, where he has lived ever since. He lives in the North East England town of Middlesbrough.[1][2]
An avid reader as a child, Musodza aspired to be a writer from the time he discovered that it was possible to earn a living from it.[3] Musodza has contributed to StoryTime e-zine, which was founded by Sweden-based Zimbabwean author and publisher, Ivor Hartmann.,[4] Jungle Jim,[5] Bookends, Winter Tales[6][7] and other periodicals.
He is also the author of the first definitive science fiction novel in the Shona language, MunaHacha Maive Nei?[8][9] Musodza states that he began to write science-fiction in ChiShona when he was 10, when he translated Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for his maternal grandmother. His use of ChiShona challenges the widely-held perception that indigenous languages lack the "sophistication" with which to conceptualise and articulate "complex" ideas such as are found in science-fiction.[10][11][12] He has also stated that he is inspired by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Decolonising The Mind. Musodza explores writing science -fiction in ChiShona in an essay, Writing and Publishing 'Complicated Stuff' in an African Language, which appeared in Vector 289, the magazine of the British Fantasy Association[13] He is one of two Zimbabwean writers who have been featured in Geoff Ryman's 100 African Writers of SF[14]
In addition to two personal blogs, Musodza, an advocate for Zionism, blogs for The Times of Israel.[15] He has taken part in the Battle for Ideas Festival[16]
- Aquilina (kana kuti, Reuriro yaHatifari Maforimbo), 2020, Belontos Books, ISBN 978-1-9997077-4-3[17]
- Shavi Rechikadzi, 2015, Belontos Books, ISBN 978-1-908690-24-1
- MunaHacha Maive Nei? (2nd edition), 2016, Belontos Books, ISBN 978-1-908690-24-1
- Uriah's Vengeance, Lion Press, 2009, Coventry, United Kingdom ISBN 978-0-9558082-5-8
- The Head Gardner, Skobeloff Horror & Ghost Stories Anthology, Skobeloff Publishing, United Kingdom, October 2023
- Ask The Beasts, Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine, Vol. 26, Seven Hills Media, Nigeria/online, July 2023
- Running Out, African Writer Magazine, Nigeria/online, July 2023
- Black Tax, Agbowo, Issue 6, November 2022, Y, Nigeria, 2022
- Ronak's Shame, Lolwe Literary Magazine, Nairobi, Kenya, 2022
- The Sandship Builders Of Chitungwiza, Save The World: Twenty Sci-Fi Writers Save The Planet, ed. J.Scott Coatsworth, Other Worlds Ink, United States, 2022
- Here I Am, My Son, Sticks & Stones Magazine, Bright Lights Media House, United Kingdom, 2022
- Warrior Mine, Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine, Vol. 19, Seven Hills Media, Nigeria, 2021
- Tek-Tek's Game, Other Side of Hope Vol 1, Other Side Of Hope Publishing, United Kingdom, 2021
- What Bastet Saw, Undead Press, online, 2021
- Imba YaSekuru Browne, Mosi-oa-Tunya Literary Review, Zimbabwe, 2021
- The Rapture of Pastor Agregate Makunike, Chitungwiza Musha Mukuru: An Anthology From Zimbabwe's Biggest Ghetto Town, Mwanaka Publishing, Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, 2020
- Aquilina (kana kuti, Reururo yaHatifari Maforimbo, Belontos Books, United Kingdom, 2019, ISBN 978-1999707743
- The Witch of Eskale Hall, "Creep" anthology, ed. Jay Chakravarti, Culture Cult Magazine, India, 2019, ISBN 978-1073442454
- The Interplanetary Water Company, AfroSFv3, 2018, StoryTime, ISBN 978-9198291339
- African Roar[18] (Anthology, contributed Yesterday's Dog,[19] a short-story) edited by E. Sigauke/I.W. Hartmann, Lion Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-9562422-8-0
- Here be Cannibals, Jungle Jim #23, Afreak Press, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa,2014
- When the Trees were Enchanted, Winter Tales, Fox Spirit Books, London, United Kingdom, 2014ISBN 978-1-909348-88-2
- Chishamiso, Bookends, The Sunday Observer, Kingston, Jamaica, 2012
- To The Woods, With A Girl, StoryTime e-zine, Sweden
- In The Blood, StoryTime e-zine, Sweden, 2008
- Framed, StoryTime e-zine, Sweden, 2008
- The Village Idiot, Trends, Bulawayo, 2006
Masimba Musodza's professional acting debut was in Edgar Langeveldt's play, No News, which premiered at Theatre-In-The-Park, Harare, in 1997. He also appears in a short film, Vengeance is Mine (2001) by Tawanda Gunda. However, it was not until he settled in Middlesbrough that he began to pursue acting more seriously. He appeared in a short play, To Be Or Not To Be, written by compatriot Dictator Maphosa, as part of the Middlesbrough Council-sponsored Boro Bites short plays (August, 2010). In 2011, he joined the Arc Sketch Group, an extension of the Writers Block North East workshops,[20][21][22] which put on themed sketch shows[23] at the Arc Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees until it disbanded in 2012.
Since then, Masimba Musodza has been a film and TV extra, appearing in such productions as Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands (Episode 11), where he plays a Vani warrior.[24] He can also be seen in the festival teaser and UK trailer for Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake.[25] He has also appeared in Make! Craft Britain, which was aired on BBC4 on June 9, 2016.[26] His most recent appearance has been in the short film I Need help (Ben Stainsby, 2018), where he plays 'The Wise Man'[27]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
