DD Phiri to dine with storytellers
Veteran writer Desmond Duwa Phiri will be the toast of the day when Storytelling Sessions hold their final event of the year at Jacaranda Cultural Centre on November 30 in Blantyre.
Having held 11 sessions, hosting almost 45 writers who have brought a staggering 77 stories on the platform throughout the year, organisers of the sessions are looking forward to having a grand finale to cap what has been an otherwise breakthrough year for them.
Custodian of the sessions Ekari Mbvundula, in an interview, said they are excited at the prospect of having Phiri as a special guest because of the vast fiction pieces he has written though he is hugely known for his newspaper opinion pieces.
She said: “It almost goes without saying that he is an important part of Malawian literature past and present. We would like to inspire other writers that you are never too old to keep writing. His presence alone is a big inspiration for us to write consistently about difficult subjects.”
The organisers of the sessions have also announced plans to register the storytelling sessions as an organisation in 2019. They will be operating under the name Story Ink Africa.
In an interview, Phiri stressed on the importance of consistency and continuous writing for budding writers to realise their full potential and become writers worth global reputation.
He said: “You cannot tell if your writing is good if there is no one to critique your work. Even great writers such as Chinua Achebe undergo such kind of sessions.” n
