- Tstotso
Infobox Magazine
title = Tsotso Magazine
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editor = T.O. Mcloughlin, F.R. Mhonyera, M.Mahiri
frequency = infrequently
circulation =
category = Political Magazine
company = Private
firstdate =
country = Flag|Zimbabwe
language = English Shona
website = [http://www.chimurengalibrary.co.za/periodicals.php?id=5]
issn =Described as "a magazine of new writing in
Zimbabwe ", Tsotso's mandate was to undermine the continued colonial domination of literature. It sought to create a platform where a new generation of Zimbabwean writers could give expression to their experiences through writing and create new contexts for the discussion, criticism and dissemination of their work.The magazine bypassed traditional channels such as academics and foreign institutes, Tsotso's editorial team -
T.O. Mcloughlin ,F.R. Mhonyera ,M.Mahiri ,S. Nondo andH. Lewis - put out a call for submissions in popular mass media publications such as Parade and the Herald in 1990. The result was a flood of submissions, many by first time writers with little or no experience. "This is encouraging," read the editorial response in the second issue of Tsotso, "but a note of caution or at least advice is necessary to the young writer." This statement set the tone for what would become the magazine's strong pedagogic praxis.Publishing poetry and prose in English and
Shona but also inNdebele ,Tonga andShangaan , Tsotso sought to rupture the separatist conceptions of black and white writing, oral and print poetry, Western academic and traditional forms that continued to dominate post-independenceZimbabwean literature . A culture of critical reading was advanced through regular reviews and analyses of contemporary and historical Zimbabwean writing, and editorial content was focused on encouraging writers to craft alternative kinds of expression that went beyond surface meaning, dominant myths and traditional clichés. The magazine also actively engaged new writers through regular workshops and writing competitions, the results of which often became the focus of the content.Tsotso published irregularly throughout the 1990s. Its mandate was continued in the new millennium by organisations such as the
BWAZ (Budding Writers association of Zimbabwe), which was founded out of a workshop organized by Tsotso and literary anthologies such as amaBooks' Short Writings FromBulawayo and Weaver Press' Writing Still and Writing Now.
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