Virtual Memorial Service For Veteran Writer, David Mungoshi.

Written by a lover of Art

A multitude of writers who were mentored by the late David Mungoshi who died on the 29^th of August 2020 in Harare will host a virtual memorial service for the revered writer on 26^th September 2020.

Mungoshi, was an award-winning writer, poet, actor and academic.

In the new normal, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for all the people who count Mungoshi as a teacher and mentor to converge in Harare for his memorial service. The online service will present an opportunity for more people from all over the world to pay respects to their teacher.

“He mentored many young writers and his contribution to the literary community will be missed. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to attend his funeral in Zimbabwe or the memorial service hosted by the Zimbabwe Writers Association.

As David’s mentees we have decided to organise a virtual memorial service, for the many other writers, colleagues and family who can’t be in Zimbabwe now.  The memorial will be hosted on Zoom on the 26th of September 2020,” said one of the organisers Constance van Niekerk.

Several writers will pay their final respects to Mungoshi by reading his work and sharing memories of him. Among the speakers will be Dr Wale Okediran, Secretary General of the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA), David’s son, Tadiwa Mungoshi, Zimbabwean writers Mbizo Chirasha,  van Niekerk and Catherine Magodo-Mutukwa to mention a few.

Mungoshi won an award for his novel “The Fading Sun” and was also a former columnist for The Herald. His books include, “The Fading Sun”, “Broken Dreams and other Stories”, “Stains on the Wall” and “Live Like an Artist”. He contributed to various poetry and short story anthologies. He also received an award from the Pan-African Writers Association.

“This will present an opportunity to show just how much influence Mungoshi had. It will show that his work and his legacy goes beyond his published works but extends to the lives of people around the globe,” van Niekerk said.

Anyone who would like to read David’s memoirs or speak at the memorial service can contact Constance van Niekerk on In memory of mungoshid@gmail.com by the 15th of September 2020. Participation will be free and there will be as many sessions as necessary to accommodate the participants.

The sessions will be recorded and uploaded to Youtube.