Masimba Musodza

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.[http://masimbamusodza.co.uk/Biography/index.html/ ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606195628/http://masimbamusodza.co.uk/Biography/index.html/ |date=June 6, 2014 }}{{cite web |url=http://teesblogs.tumblr.com/post/117695772680/the-man-from-zimbabwe-that-writes-on-teesside |title=TeesBlogs — The man from Zimbabwe, that writes on Teesside |publisher=Teesblogs.tumblr.com |date=2015-04-29 |accessdate=2015-12-23 |archive-date=December 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224103959/http://teesblogs.tumblr.com/post/117695772680/the-man-from-zimbabwe-that-writes-on-teesside |url-status=dead }}

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.{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.africabookclub.com/?p=16092 |title=Masimba Musodza | work=Africa Book Club |publisher=Africabookclub.com |date=2014-11-17 |accessdate=2015-12-23}} Musodza has contributed to StoryTime e-zine, which was founded by Sweden-based Zimbabwean author and publisher, Ivor Hartmann.,Musodza's Profile on [http://storytime-masimba-musodza.blogspot.com/ Story Time ezine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708064307/http://storytime-masimba-musodza.blogspot.com/ |date=July 8, 2011 }} Jungle Jim,{{cite web |url=http://www.junglejim.org/?p=591 |title=Masimba Musodza |publisher=Jungle Jim |date=2012-05-08 |accessdate=2015-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043812/http://www.junglejim.org/?p=591 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }} Bookends, Winter Tales{{cite web|url=http://www.foxspirit.co.uk/books/anthologies/winter-tales/ |title=Winter Tales |publisher=Foxspirit.co.uk |date=2014-08-28 |accessdate=2015-12-23}}{{Cite web|url=https://omenana.com/afrosff-short-fiction-directory/|title = Read More African Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Fiction Stories| date=December 23, 2022 }} and other periodicals.

He is also the author of the first definitive science fiction novel in the Shona language, MunaHacha Maive Nei?{{cite web|url=http://nehandaradio.com/2011/06/07/first-science-fiction-novel-in-shona/ |title=First science fiction novel in ChiShona |publisher=Nehanda Radio |date=2011-06-07 |accessdate=2015-12-23}}{{cite web |author=Mark Bould |url=http://paradoxa.com/volumes/25/introduction/ |title=African Sf: Introduction |publisher=Paradoxa |date=2013-08-23 |accessdate=2015-12-23 |archive-date=March 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320192946/http://paradoxa.com/volumes/25/introduction/ |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web | url=https://www.mosioatunyareview.com/post/kunyora-muchishona-na-masimba-musodza | title="Kunyora muChiShona" na Masimba Musodza | date=March 4, 2021 | access-date=March 7, 2022 | archive-date=March 7, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307184353/https://www.mosioatunyareview.com/post/kunyora-muchishona-na-masimba-musodza | url-status=dead }}{{cite web | url=https://vector-bsfa.com/tag/african-sf/ | title=African SF | date=May 24, 2020 }}https://fanac.org/fanzines/Vector/Vector289.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} 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 AssociationWriting and Publishing 'Complicated Stuff' in an African Language, [https://vector-bsfa.com/tag/masimba-musodza/ Vector 289] He is one of two Zimbabwean writers who have been featured in Geoff Ryman's 100 African Writers of SF{{Cite web|url=http://www.tor.com/2016/11/01/100-african-writers-of-sff-part-two-writers-in-the-u-k/#masimba-musodza|title = 100 African Writers of SFF — Part Two: Writers in the U.K.|date = November 2016}}

In addition to two personal blogs, Musodza, an advocate for Zionism, blogs for The Times of Israel.{{cite web|last=Breakstone |first=David |url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/masimba-musodza/ |title=Masimba Musodza | The Blogs | The Times of Israel |publisher=Blogs.timesofisrael.com |date= |accessdate=2015-12-23}} He has taken part in the Battle for Ideas Festival{{cite web | url=https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/2021/speaker/masimba-musodza/ | title=Masimba Musodza | access-date=September 20, 2022 | archive-date=September 20, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920174615/https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/2021/speaker/masimba-musodza/ | url-status=dead }}

• Aquilina (kana kuti, Reuriro yaHatifari Maforimbo), 2020, Belontos Books, {{ISBN|978-1-9997077-4-3}},{{cite web | url=https://nehandaradio.com/2019/12/04/masimba-musodza-the-confession-of-hatifari-maforimbo/ | title=Masimba Musodza: The Confession of Hatifari Maforimbo | date=December 4, 2019 }} translated into English as Aquilina (or, The Confession Of Hatifari Maforimbo) {{ISBN|978-1-914287855}}, 2024, Carnelian Heart Publishing, United Kingdom{{cite web | url=https://www.newsday.co.zw/southerneye/standard-style/article/200034769/musodzas-aquilina-translated-into-english | title=Musodza's Aquilina translated into English }}
• 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}}

• Cousin/Sister Modesta's Halloween Pumpkins, Halloweenthology-Witches' Brew, Wicked Press, India, 2024
• Highly Civlised Men, the other side of hope, Volume 3, Issue 2, Winter 2023.
• 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, translated into Igbo by Yvonna Chioma Mbanefo as Ụtụ Ojii, Olonga Africa Anthology, Nigeria, 2023https://lingua.olongoafrica.com/utu-ojii
• 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 RoarArticle on [Ghanaweb.com]http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=181180 (Anthology, contributed Yesterday's Dog,Review of Yesterday's Dog {{cite web|url=http://www.damiankelleher.com/drupal/review/masimba-musodza-yesterdays-dog |title=Masimba Musodza - Yesterday's Dog | Damian Kelleher |accessdate=2010-09-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925061152/http://www.damiankelleher.com/drupal/review/masimba-musodza-yesterdays-dog |archivedate=September 25, 2010 }} 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, 2014{{ISBN|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,{{Cite web|url=https://noonebutabloghead.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/easter-funnies-2-at-stockton-arc/|title=Easter Funnies 2 at Stockton Arc|date=March 28, 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://ramshacklecharm.com/tag/arc-sketch-group/|title = Arc sketch group| date=July 9, 2012 }}{{Cite web|url=http://allevents.in/stockton-on-tees/arc-sketch-group-easter-funnies-2/393130247370648|title = Easter 2021 in Stockton-on-Tees, EN | Annual Easter Egg Hunt & Things to do in Stockton-on-Tees, EN}} which put on themed sketch shows{{cite web |url=http://fansonline.net/onegiantleap/article.php?id=854 |title=One Giant Leap {{!}} |website=fansonline.net |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605034228/http://fansonline.net/onegiantleap/article.php?id=854 |archive-date=2012-06-05}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.herald.co.zw/science-fiction-shona-novel-print-version/|title=Science fiction Shona novel print version}} He can also be seen in the festival teaser and UK trailer for Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2016/jun/15/i-daniel-blake-trailer-ken-loach-palme-dor-winner-video|title = I, Daniel Blake: The trailer for Ken Loach's Palme d'Or-winner – video|newspaper = The Guardian|date = June 15, 2016}} He has also appeared in Make! Craft Britain, which was aired on BBC4 on June 9, 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/11fQZ5BtvyD0QlvCGW2Pz4K/embroidered-lampshade-workshop|title = BBC Four - MAKE! Craft Britain, Special - Embroidered Lampshade Workshop}} His most recent appearance has been in the short film I Need help (Ben Stainsby, 2018), where he plays 'The Wise Man'{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8639602/fullcredits|title=I Need Help (2018) - IMDb|website=IMDb}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?230825 Masimba Musodza at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database]
• [http://conversationswithwriters.blogspot.com/2009/06/interview-masimba-musodza-author-of.html Interview with Musodza]
• [https://archive.today/20130505032730/http://www.masimbamusodza.co.uk/ Musodza's website]
• [http://sanitariummagazine.com/a-moment-with-masimba-musodza/ A Moment With Masimba Musodza]

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Category:Zimbabwean writers

Category:Zimbabwean novelists

Category:Zimbabwean male writers

Category:Zimbabwean male novelists

Category:Zimbabwean male actors

Category:Zimbabwean Rastafarians

Category:Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom

Category:Speculative fiction writers of African descent

Category:Writers from Harare

Category:Living people

Category:1976 births