Crossing Borders Magazine

Publishing is about making things public and credible. In the west, information for writers and advice about getting published is readily available on the web or in magazines and periodicals that cater for the Arts and Literature...

Goretti Kyomuhendo's has completed her third novel, Whispers from Vera. Kyomuhendo is the coordinator of Uganda Women Writers' Association, FEMRITE, and is an Honorary Fellow of Creative Writing at the University of Iowa, USA.

Download 'Setting Up a Writers' Support Group'

Biography:
Tinashe Mushakavanhu is a young Zimbabwean writer and poet.  A distinctive young scholar representing the 'born free' generation of Africans, he received a first class English honours degree from the Midlands State University. In 2004, he became the youngest Zimbabwean writer at the age of 20, to be selected for the Crossing Borders Creative Writing Project. He is the National Secretary in the Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe's Executive Committee. Some of his short stories have been published in Short Writings From Bulawayo II (2005) and Writing Now: More Stories From Zimbabwe (2005). His poem, This Breed is featured on the first ever-Zimbabwean poetry CD, Voices. Once he went to Port Elizabeth, South Africa for a writer's conference, together with fellow poet, Julius Chingono and presented a paper on contemporary Zimbabwean writing. He is currently completing work on his maiden book a short story collection entitled, The Harare Hermit, which he has dedicated to Lina Musasa, a very special girlfriend.

Reaction to news of publication in CB magazine:

'Harare is to Tinashe Mushakavanhu what Bulawayo was to the late Yvonne Vera; a very personal inspirational entity. The Harare Hermit is a very sad but personal song, and I am happy to be sharing it with others. Life can be hot sometimes. And it is also a joy to have people from different cultures reading a creative piece that took me two years to complete.'

Download 'The Harare Hermit'

Biography:
My name is Fatima Zahra Abubakar. I am a native of Kano, an old commercial city in northern Nigeria. I was born in London in 1977 and have spent a good part of my growing up years in countries other than my own. I have a BSc. (Honours) in Computer Science and an enduring passion for writing in general and poetry in particular. I can’t remember when I started writing; it's like it’s always been there. It’s only recently though that I really began to look at my writing as something to share. I have had a poem published when I entered an online poetry competition at Poetry.com. I was rather surprised when I received a letter telling me that my poem Senseless was going to be published in an anthology entitled Under a Quicksilver Moon. That was in 2002, at a time when people were starting to become immune to the horror of violence and death. Then three years later I applied for the Crossing Borders writing scheme and was accepted.

I went into the Crossing Borders project with quite a lot of expectations. Although some of those expectations have changed, I was far from disappointed. On the contrary, I’m happy to say I found the programme both challenging and interesting.  Ironically, though I entered the project with poetry in mind, a floodgate of ideas in other areas of creative writing were unleashed. I am currently working on one children’s story and a couple of short stories. I have recently discovered another positive side effect of writing. I find myself in the position of translator and representative of my language and culture, respectively. Writing continues to be a marvellous journey of self-discovery and an adventure.

Reaction to news of publication in CB magazine:

It didn’t sink in at first. I had been checking my email, which I do regularly. It was around 9 p.m. at night when I saw the name Pippa Vlietstra in my inbox. I had started racking my brain trying to remember if I knew anyone with such a name, when I noticed the title said Crossing Borders Magazine Submission. My mind shouted eureka and my heart did a somersault and when I opened the mail and saw that my poem, Candlestick Nights was going to be published… Well, I was on top of the world. Unfortunately, everyone had gone to bed early so it wasn’t until the next morning that I could share the news with my family. That night, though, I hugged that news like a cuddly secret. I would like to thank Crossing Borders for giving me the opportunity to dream and turning that dream into reality.

Download 'Candlestick Nights'

Biography:

Jonathan Thanthwe Mbuna, aged 37, lives in Blantyre, Malawi. He started writing  when he was 18 years old. His first radio play was featured on the local radio in 1998. Jonathan is a poet, short story writer, play writer, essayist and critic on the local radio. He has written over 20 short stories which have been published in the local newspapers; over 50 poems published in local newspapers and broadcast on the national local radio. He has written over 40 radio plays in both English and local language (Chichewa). All these plays have been aired on the local radio.

In 2004, his novel Meeting Point won the first prize in the Peer Gynt competition, a competition sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Malawi. Jonathan holds a Master in Public Administration. He was mentored by Millie Murray and is an admirer of James Ngungi Wathiongo.

Reaction to news of publication in CB magazine:

'I am humbled to have my short-story short-listed for publication' is all that Jonathan can say to show his excitement.

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Biography:
Born in Tiko, Republic of Cameroon, I was raised in the village of Mondoni Native where I did my primary education and equally absorbed a great deal of material on human society that now seeps gracefully into my works. I developed a passion for writing in Form 3 and carried it along to the University of Buea where I won a silver trophy in short story writing during the second edition of the University Festival of Arts and Culture (UNIFAC2001), and didn’t forget to grab my B.Sc in Economics. I taught Commerce & Finance and Economics at Regina Pacis College Mutengene before moving to my present job at Maersk Cameroon.

I am indebted to my regular mentor Mbella Sonne Dipoko, who saw in me a promising  writer and never relented in suggesting ways of bringing this dream to life through wide and consistent reading and the striving for excellence.

Reaction to news of publication in CB Magazine:
I had finished going through my mails and was about to sign out when a new one popped in. I had once seen a mail with the same sender and the same subject. I sighed and thought: here it was again to help worsen my already depressed mood. Anyway, I brazed myself for yet another rejection. You can imagine the rest. I immediately went crashing on the doorsteps of my mentors’ mailboxes with the news: Michael Wherly and Catherine Johnson whose expert ‘Biting and Blowing’ during my two years in the CB programme awoke me to the realities of a writer in a fiercely competitive world. I think I feel good – the reward of persevering in the course of creating just the best!

Download 'Honour of a Woman'

Biography:

Monica Arac de Nyeko is from Uganda and in 2004 was short-listed for the Caine Prize for Africa Writing for her short story Strange Fruit. Her fiction and poetry has appeared in several anthologies and magazines including: Memories of Sun (Greeenwillow Books),  Fountain Junior HIV Series (Fountain Publishers), Word from a Granary, Tears of Hope, Poetry International, New Era and Wordrite (FEMRITE Publications).

 Reaction to news of publication in CB magazine:

 'Getting a story published is always exciting for me. Every publication feels like an affirmation that perhaps what I was communicating did come across, like a weight got lifted off my chest, for a while. So for now, me it’s all smiles.' 

Download 'Yellow Rubber'

Biography:

I am a Zambian living in Ghana for the last five years. I have always wanted to write but my biggest challenge was finding the time. When I moved to Ghana with the kids in school, I finally found some time. I submitted my first piece of writingto the Macmillan’s Writers Prize for Africa in 2004 and my story titled Wandi’s Little Voice won the new children’s writer award. The book was published by Macmillan in 2004.

In 2005, I sat on the judging panel for the 2006, Macmillan’s Writers Prize for Africa. The story published in the Crossing Borders magazine is my second piece of published work.

Reaction to news of publication in CB magazine:

I was having a fairly routine day at work when the e-mail popped up. I spent my lunch hour texting my family in Zambia to share my good news! To say the e-mail made my day is an understatement. Having my story published in the Crossing Borders magazine has made my year!!

Crossing Borders has been an invaluable, extremely productive, experience for me. Sincere thanks to my mentor Caroline Gilfillan.

Download 'Yours Faithfully, Yogi'