Eventhough Ndlovu

(Zimbabwe, 1981)

Biography

Eventhough Ndlovu is an MA student at the University of Zimbabwe, and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of African Languages and Literature. He teaches poetry, although his research interests lie in the area of lexicography.

Ndlovu was born on 16th October 1981 in Bulawayo. He grew up in Matshetsheni near Gwanda in Matebeleland South. He attended Matshetsheni Primary School, JZ Moyo High School and did his A-levels at the Foundation College in Bulawayo (2000-2001). He proceeded to the University of Zimbabwe in 2002 and studied for a BA in Ndebele, Theatre Arts, and Archaeology. He has now just completed a dissertation in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the MA in African Languages and Literature.

During semester breaks in 2005, he taught Ndebele at Manama and Nkashe High Schools. Ndlovu enjoys reading novels, netball and volleyball, and listening to gospel music. His exposure to literature at school developed his interest in poetry, short stories and the novel; he has now begun to write as well.

He, too, considers himself to be among those critics who consider that (Ndebele) poetry today relies too much on fulfilling the requirements of “official sponsorship” and “official and personal censorship”. “Sometimes,” he says, “the poetry is limited to a set of themes carefully chosen by the sponsor.”