The Write Mag will be edited by acclaimed Zimbabwean author, literary critic and academic Memory Chirere and published by Write Africa, an organisation bent on promoting writing and reading in all literary genres.
The magazine will be published quarterly, with a special emphasis on reviving interest in African literature.
“Budding writers will get more opportunities as there will be publication of new works, as well as profiling of upcoming authors, among other writers,” Write Africa Programs ManagerLawrence Hoba told Literary Outlook.
“With targeted distribution around the country, there is a hope that people will revive their interest in reading, as well as writing.
The maiden edition will appear in print, with an online version to be available on the Write Africa website in due course.
“The magazine will also act as an information platform where artists and arts lovers will exchange information as well as see opportunities that are available from various platforms,” Hoba said.
The Write Mag has begun soliciting for contributions from writers with the deadline for submissions slated for 21 August. Submissions will cover a varied array of categories including book reviews, author profiles and interviews, publishing information, study guides and information, features, literary works and intellectual property.
Traditionally, literary magazines have provided a launch pad for upcoming writers with legendary grand patriarchs of Zimbabwean such as Musaemura Zimunya, Charles Mungoshi, Chenjerai Hove and Dambudzo Marechera having found their voices in literary journals like Two Tone and Chirimo.
The folding up of early literary journals was followed by a long austere patch for writers with occasional short-lived efforts like New Voices and Tsotso.
Literary magazines have been the mainstay of African literature with reputed publications like Transition, Okike, New Coin and West Africa along with Francophone outlets like Presence Africaine have captured the infancy dispensation of the continent’s literature. International literary magazines like Poetry have withstood the wear of centuries, and are still going strong after spawning such immortals as T.S Eliot and Ezra Pound.
It remains to be seen whether The Write Mag will knock the billing and increase the visibility of local literature.