Fungisayi Sasa

Sasa grew up and completed both her primary and secondary school education in Zimbabwe. She went to England to study creative writing at Bedforshire university. Fungisayi has published a children’s book, The Search for the Perfect Head (available on Amazon) and is currently working on a book of short stories and a poetry collection. She has also had a flash fiction story published in Blue Eyed Boybait, and has contributed to Wordsetc, a South African literary journal.

The poet in her own words:

“I was born in September 1983 in Harare and for as long as I can remember; I enjoyed writing stories and poems. As a child, I had a diary in which I wrote stories about my immediate family especially when they annoyed me. I once wrote a short story about my older sister called ‘My Margaret Murdered’, complete with a cover of blood dripping from her neck. Naturally, most of my family didn’t encourage my writing pursuits. 

I went to Lewisam Primary School and Arundel School. During my time in secondary school, I enjoyed English Language and English Literature so much that I knew I wanted a future career that involved the two but I wasn’t sure what field that would be. When I came to England in 2002, I studied Business Administration but I continued writing poetry and in 2005, I enrolled for a BA in Creative Writing at the University of Bedfordshire. I learnt to develop my skills as a writer and I became more confident in my love for the art of writing. During my time at university, I matured both as an individual and a writer. Keith and Lesley were great lecturers because they allowed me to express myself without being judgemental about the content and they pushed me to go beyond what I thought I was capable of. My third year project entitled I Am a Different Country concentrated on some of the books I read as a child and my roots as a Zimbabwean. My first book, The Search for the Perfect Head was published last year.

I have always had a deep passion for children and allowing their imagination to blossom because when I was growing up, I was given that opportunity and freedom. I know that I will continue with children’s writing but I hope to start work on a short story collection for adults. I have also written many poetry collections. Most of the poetry I submitted for International Poetry Web is from the collections Scattered Thoughts, House of Broken Stones and I Am Cannibal. I am currently working on a piece called Decolonising The African Mind: A Quest to be Zimbabwean Again (available on Afroterminal) and I am finishing off I Am Cannibal.”

Bibliography

The Search for the Perfect Head, Eloquent Books, New York, 2009
Scattered Thoughts, unpublished
House of Broken Stones, unpublished
I Am Cannibal, in progress

Links

Wordsetc: a very good South African literary journal