This blog is an extension of the CFPI online course and includes the collaborations of tutors and partipants in it.
Shared by Petrina Moir:
This is definitely one of my favourite hidden corners of London, just around the corner from Covent Garden. It really is an explosion of colour even on a drizzly day (the usual British weather),
https://secretldn.com/neals-yard-covent-garden/
if you venture further there is even the Banksy above on the wall,
Simon Griggs' favourite French restaurant is just around the corner: it's called Mon Plaisir and the snails are delicious!
Comments on Mary's post:
"I was brought up as a Protestant in the Church of England and we also
had Fish Fridays! At boarding school, we were served a dish called
Kedgeree. It originated in India but was brought back by returning
British colonials.
Here's a link to a recipe: if you try it, let us know!"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/really_good_kedgeree_75198
"I was raised in the Catholic faith and we were subjected most
horrendously to Fish Friday every week and during Lent, my father
insisted that we ate NO red meat, well almost no meat at all.
Even though I used to love Shrove Tuesday as it was Pancake Day - and in
my opinion the best way to eat pancakes (let's face it one pancake is
never enough!!! lol) is with some sugar and lemon juice, I don't have
fond memories of Lent. Imagine being a child and having to eat that much
fish; really quite traumatic (it sounds so dramatic now lol) What
always got me through was knowing that at Easter we would get chocolate
Easter eggs. So I guess first the pain, then the pleasure...(40 Shades
of Grey - I mean 40 days...)"
More TEA idioms added in the course:
"It's not my cup of tea!"
"spilling the T" or "spilling the tea". T stands for truth, and spilling the tea stands for telling someone a juicy bit of gossip.
You're as useful as a chocolate teapot!:: you are completely useless.
Shared by Remedios Gómez:
On such a day as today (Women's Day), I'd like to share with you information about an examplary Zimbabwean-American woman who has changed education in Africa (and around the world, as well). She is Tererai Trent. I knew about her last Term while dealing with my upper secondary students about education around the world.
Despite having a difficult childhood and youth, he was able to achieve her dreams, and for me, she is a model.
You can watch an interview here, which is worth watching!:
Shared by Mª Carmen Carbajo:
Nicki Minaj is a famous rapper who was born in Trinidad. She participates in the song called Tusa that I am sure you recognize.
Shared by Remedios Gómez:
Doris Lessing is one of my favourite writers in the whole world and I think her pieces of work must be required reading.
For you to know a little bit about
her life, I can tell you that although her parents were British, she was
born in Iran but she grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and
spent her life there until she was 30 years old approximately.
Therefore, she is considered a British-Zimbabwean novelist. Her literary
work is mainly autobiographic because she was influenced by her
experiences in Zimbabwe, such as her strict education, her discovery of
nature or even her feelings about racial discrimination.
Doris Lessing was one of the rare authors to have won all the major literary prizes in Europe, for instance:
Somerset Maugham Award (1954)
Prix Médicis étranger (1976)
Austrian State Prize for European Literature (1981)
Shakespeare-Preis der Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F. V. S., Hamburg (1982)
WH Smith Literary Award (1986)
Palermo Prize (1987)
Premio Internazionale Mondello (1987)
Premio Grinzane Cavour (1989)
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography (1995)
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (1995)
Premi Internacional Catalunya (1999)
Order of the Companions of Honour (1999)
Companion of Literature of the Royal Society of Literature (2000)
David Cohen Prize (2001)
Premio Príncipe de Asturias (2001)
S.T. Dupont Golden PEN Award (2002)
Nobel Prize in Literature (2007)
Order of Mapungubwe: Category II Gold (2008)
I'd tell you about all her novels; for me it's almost impossible to select just one. But, let's have a look at these two:
1. The Grass is Singing
This was her first novel, and also the first piece of work that I read by Doris Lessing in my adolescence. It mainly deals with the racial politics between whites and blacks in Zimbabwe and I must confess the story grabbed me from the very beginning.
A curiosity about the title is that it is a phrase from T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. You can listen to this wonderful poem here:
2. The Golden Notebook
Considered one of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923, it is a book that I deal with my advanced-level students coinciding with the celebration of Women's Day because one of the main themes covered by Lessing is women's liberation movements.
To finish this post, I'd like to share two famous quotes by Doris Lessing:
Shared by Tania Prádanos:
by William Wordsworth (Romantic poet from North England)
The sky is overcast
With a continuous cloud of texture close,
Heavy and wan, all whitened by the Moon,
Which through that veil is indistinctly seen,
A dull, contracted circle, yielding light
So feebly spread, that not a shadow falls,
Chequering the ground--from rock, plant, tree, or tower.
At length a pleasant instantaneous gleam
Startles the pensive traveller while he treads
His lonesome path, with unobserving eye
Bent earthwards; he looks up--the clouds are split
Asunder,--and above his head he sees
The clear Moon, and the glory of the heavens.
There, in a black-blue vault she sails along,
Followed by multitudes of stars, that, small
And sharp, and bright, along the dark abyss
Drive as she drives: how fast they wheel away,
Yet vanish not!--the wind is in the tree,
But they are silent;--still they roll along
Immeasurably distant; and the vault,
Built round by those white clouds, enormous clouds,
Still deepens its unfathomable depth.
At length the Vision closes; and the mind,
Not undisturbed by the delight it feels,
Which slowly settles into peaceful calm,
Is left to muse upon the solemn scene.
Shared by Inmaculada González:
This poem is often read at funerals. The author, Henry Scott-Holland (1847-1918), a priest at St. Paul's Cathedral of London, did not intend it as a poem, it was actually delivered as part of a sermon in 1910.
The sermon, titled, "Dead the King of Terrors" was preached while the body of King Edward VII was Lying in state at Westmister.
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just round the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
This selection of fiction and history reflects my own obsession with the country’s national and personal struggles
There are many more than 10 great books about Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean writers of the last decade alone, particularly Nozipo Maraire, Alexandra Fuller, Irene Sabatini, Bryony Rheam, NoViolet Bulawayo, Peter Godwin, Ignatius Mabasa, Brian Chikwava, Wonder Guchu, Christopher Mlalazi, Tendai Huchu, Memory Chirere and Togara Muzanenhamo could be part of this list, as could the American James Kilgore. The prolific triumvirate of Charles Mungoshi, Ndabezinhle Sigogo and John Eppel could each have a top 10 list of just their own work.
The fiction and non-fiction titles in this list echo my own obsession with the history of Zimbabwe, and, most particularly, its social history, a subject in which my novel The Book of Memory is steeped. I am particularly interested in the external and internal struggles reflected in these books, struggles both national and personal – whether over land ownership and national identity or the individual’s right to self-determination.
I hope that this “personal canon” provides a good introduction for those who may be new to Zimbabwe, and inspires debate among Zimbabweanists about who else I should have included.
1. Zambesia, England’s El Dorado in Africa by Edward Peter Mathers (1895)
Zimbabwe is an unusual case study in African colonialism in that it was invaded by a private company under Royal Charter. First published in 1895, this rare book provides the inside track on the Pioneer Column, the occupying force of Cecil Rhodes’s British South Africa Company. From speculation over the location of the fabled “lost mines of Ophir” to the meticulous enumeration of the many titles of Lobengula, the soon-to-be-deposed “King of the Matabele”, this Victorian delight is a wonderful resource for anyone who wants to understand the motives for and mechanics of the colonisation of Zimbabwe.
2. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (1950)
This
bleak and unsparing novel, set on a remote farm in Southern Rhodesia in
the 1940s, is propelled by three deeply unlikeable but pitiful people:
Dick Turner, an inept but stubborn white farmer; his wife, the
frustrated, proud Mary, and Moses, the domestic servant whose brooding
presence oppresses the book and leads to its catastrophic conclusion.
Lessing’s novel is a masterly study of the unnatural and constricting
artifices that were necessary to maintaining Rhodesia’s “colour bar”.
3. Butterfly Burning by Yvonne Vera (1998)
Set
in the Bulawayo township of Makokoba in the 1940s, this is the story of
the doomed May-December love affair between Fumbatha, a construction
worker, and the much younger Phephelaphi who dreams of being a nurse. A
brutal event separates the couple. Vera’s prose can be elliptical – the
horrors that befall the couple are described with such lyrical beauty
that they are not always fully felt by the reader – but no other writer
has so powerfully captured the many faces of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s
second-largest, and loveliest, city.
Supposedly a morality tale in which the reader is meant to recoil from the unwitting incestuous relationship between Rudo Moyo and her long-lost father, Josiah Rugare, aka Joe Rug. But this Shona novel is, in reality, a joyous caper that moves between a mission school and hospital in Fort Victoria province and the seedy nightspots of the town of Gwelo. Published by the Rhodesian Literature Bureau, which was established to encourage black writers away from political writing, Pafunge riotously glories in the many sins and pleasures of city life before piously renouncing them. The character of Phainos Kamunda, a young man enamoured of made-up English jawbreakers (dananability, syllambability, gigotism) is particularly popular with Zimbabweans, who can perhaps be forgiven for seeing in him the forerunner of a certain verbose and highly excitable former minister of information.
5. Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (1988)
“I
was not sorry when my brother died,” begins the first novel to be
published in English by a black Zimbabwean woman. With its echo of Camus
and title from Fanon,
this haunting novel is an intelligent and penetrating exploration of
young Tambu’s fight for the education that will lift her out of rural
poverty. It is her brother Nhamo’s death that creates the opportunity
she deserves. Considered too radically feminist for conservative
Zimbabwe, the novel was rejected locally and eventually published by the
Women’s Press in London. It has since become a deservedly cherished
novel about what it means to be a young woman in Zimbabwe’s patriarchal
cultures. In addition to rooting for Tambu, the reader is not sorry at
all when Nhamo dies – like the generation of Zimbabwe’s first political
leaders to which he belongs, so strong is his sense of entitlement that
he would have most likely used his elevated position to close off to
others the very doors that had been opened for him.
6. The House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera (1978)
This
superb collection (a novella and nine short stories) was a co-winner
(with Neil Jordan’s Night in Tunisia) of the Guardian fiction award in
1979. With its publication, Marechera, the exceptionally gifted enfant
terrible of Zimbabwean letters, seemed poised for a glittering career.
He died in poverty just eight years later. Easily his most accessible
work, The House of Hunger is clear-sighted, beautifully observed and far
removed from the sometimes histrionic solipsism that characterised his
subsequent work.
7. Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya (1989)
The
prolific Chinodya has written a number of striking books, most notably
Dew in the Morning, an exploration of an idyllic rural boyhood; the
sophisticated Strife, in which sins from the pre-colonial past cast
shadows into the present; and the rich and varied short-story collection
Can We Talk? But it is Harvest of Thorns, widely acclaimed as the best
novel ever written about Zimbabwe’s independence war, that is his
crowning glory. As well as being a fine novel about the pitiful waste of
war, it has at its heart a touching love story and a trenchant critique
of the hypocrisies of religion.
8. Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura? (Is Silence Not Also Speech?) by Charles Mungoshi (1983)
A
novelist, poet and playwright who writes equally well in Shona and
English, Charles Mungoshi is Zimbabwe’s finest and most versatile
writer. His life project has been to interrogate the notion of family.
In this groundbreaking novel, he uses multiple voices to unfold, in a
stream of consciousness, the unease caused by the return from England of
the arrogant Eric Chimbimu. His poor judgment and unthinking actions
ensnare him in a love triangle with his half-brother, the weak-willed
Paul, and Paul’s beautiful and ambitious wife Lorna. The tensions
between the three bring to boiling point the resentments that have been
simmering for two generations in their polygamous family. This very
modern novel takes an old language in new and unexpected directions.
9. Becoming Zimbabwe edited by Brian Raftopoulos and Alois Mlambo (2009)
This
is an impeccably-researched collection of essays by the historians and
political scientists Brian Raftopoulos, Alois Mlambo, Gerald Mazarire,
Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Joseph Mutisi, Munyaradzi Nyakudya, Teresa
Barnes and James Muzondidya. It chronicles the history of Zimbabwe from
pre-colonial times to the unity sharing government of 2009. Rich in
insights and incisive in its analysis, Becoming Zimbabwe is animated by
the influence of the Zimbabweanist historian Terence Ranger,
who died last year. He inspired this generation of historians to give
both dignity and academic rigour to a history that both the Rhodesia and
Zimbabwe regimes have, at one time or another, sought to distort for
political reasons.
This warm and funny memoir is a love letter to a country in the grip of madness. Lyn and Ros Rogers are the owners of Drifters, a farm they bought after Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980. Their son Douglas tells the story of how they and their motley staff seek to coexist with the Comrades who try to take over their farm while the economy crashes and spins out of control around them. This book gives the reader an understanding of why there will never be an Arab spring in Zimbabwe – we Zimbos are resilient to the nth degree. We don’t revolt, we “make a plan”. In my favourite passage in the book, a most unlikely character turns out to be the biggest pothead on Zimbabwean soil since Bob Marley and the Wailers played the independence concert. Magic.
Shared by Jessica Pozas:
Today is the Independence Day of Zimbabwe. That is why we have decided to bring this country closer to you asking our Zimbabwean students to create a list of 10 facts about their home country. Did you know all of them?
1. Languages
The country with the most official languages in the world is Zimbabwe with 16, it’s a Guinness World Record. These are: Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.
2. Independence
Zimbabwe was one of the last few African states to attain independence from British colonial rule in 1980. We celebrate independence on the 18th of April every year.
3. Victoria Falls, the world’s largest waterfall
Victoria Falls is one of original the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Stretching 1.7 kilometres wide and shared by the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are formed as the full width of the Zambezi River plummets into a 108-metre high cleft. During the wet season, the spray from the falls can be seen nearly 50 kilometres away, hence the local name Mosi-oa-Tunya (the ‘Smoke that Thunders’).
4. We have the world’s biggest man-made lake
Lake Kariba is the world’s largest man-made lake and reservoir by volume. It lies 1,300 kilometres upstream from the Indian Ocean, along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
5. King Solomon’s gold mines
Zimbabwe is believed to be the location of Ophir, the ancient wealthy country from which King Solomon got ivory, gold, and such other precious items. Great Zimbabwe was an ancient Shona city stood at the hub of a vast trade network in Southern Africa, trading in Gold and Iron with Portuguese and Indian traders.
6. Zimbabwe is a top producer of Tabaco
Zimbabwe is one of the top 10 producers of Tobacco in the world. Only 20% of the population consume cigarettes and most of the tobacco produced is sold abroad.
7. We love the Flame Lilly
The Flame Lilly is the national flower of Zimbabwe. It is listed as a protected plant under the Parks and Wildlife Act, so unlicensed cultivation, harvesting and trade in it is illegal.
8. Large Elephant population
After Botswana Zimbabwe has the second-largest elephant population in the world at more than 85,000.
9. Zimbabwe is larger than Germany in terms of area
Zimbabwe is approximately 390,757 sq. km, while Germany is approximately 357,022 sq. km, making Germany 91.37% the size of Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, the population of Zimbabwe is ~ 14 million people (66.8 million more people live in Germany). It’s safe to say Germany has way more people
10. Rock paintings
Zimbabwe has southern Africa’s highest concentration of rock art, and there are thousands of sites all over the country. The rock art was drawn by the inhabitants of the land and it shows their way of life in those ancient times. The oldest of these rock paintings date back 7000 years.
Happy Independence Day, Zimbabwe!
Shared by Santos Suárez:
Les (Leslie Allan) Murray is one of the most recognized Australian poets (recently deceased).
He developed this literacy career for more than forty years. His extensive work led him to become the most important contemporary writer in Australia. The nearly thirty books of poetry and two novels in verse that the published during his career are steeped in Australian rural life.
Shared by Santos Suárez:
If I had to choose a popular song that best represents this country, that song would undoubtedly be Waltzing Matilda.
This song has been proposed as the unofficial national anthem of the country, being probably considered as one of the most deeply rooted songs in the hearts of Australians.
The song is about a homeless man who steels a sheep to feed himself and is reported by the landowner to the police. Before being arrested, he prefers to jump into a lake (billabong) and die by drowning. The song has traditionally being interpreted as a vindication of the struggle of the poor people for their dignity against the power of the rich and the authoritarian state that only protects the powerful.
In the video that I submit the song is performed by Slim Dusty, one of the most recognized Australian singer-songwriters.
Shared by Petrina Moir:
As travelling is something out of our hands at the moment, why not take a
virtual tour of some of the most important sites in Canada! Enjoy!
Many of Canada’s most vibrant and historically rich cities are offering would-be-tourists the chance to take a virtual visit of some of their most popular attractions. From zoos, to museums and even icebergs, here are some of the best online adventures Canada has to offer.
Begin your virtual voyage of Canada with a visit to the virtual museum. This online-only museum features a collection of stories and experiences from Canada's top museums and heritage organizations.
Visitors admire the totem pole carvings on display at the the University of British Columbia's. Corbis via Getty Images
British Columbia
Lines of Sight: a Guided Virtual Reality Experience is a five-minute virtual reality film that takes viewers on a heli-skiing journey through British Columbia’s majestic Columbia Mountains. The area is so remote that it’s only accessible via helicopter.
Check out Vancouver’s wild side and see how some of its animal residents are doing. The Vancouver Aquarium has numerous cams so you can take a live peek at the penguins, otters and jellyfish as they go about their day. If you think kittens and puppies are cute, wait until you see baby eagles. Hancock Wildlife has live cams of several nesting eagles so you can go gaga over the hatchlings as their very vigilant parents overseeing their care.
Vancouver’s famed Museum of Anthropology offers lots of opportunity to experience its attractions online. You can discover nearly 50,000 objects in the MOA Collections online or take a 360° virtual tour of the Great Hall. In the MOA Archives you can study historical documents and photographs about the museum, First Nations of the Pacific Northwest, the history of the province and more.
Get inspired by nature with a virtual tour of the wildlife-rich Robert Bateman Centre and learn about things like the Great Bear Rainforest and BC dinosaur fossils via the Royal BC Museum’s learning portal.
Banff Ave. Downtown Banff. Getty Images
Alberta
The town of Banff (one of the most awe-striking towns in Canada) has a fascinating online historical tour that lets you meander through cemeteries, historic streets, the downtown core and more. You can also experience a series of engaging online 360-degree excursions of Banff and Lake Louise. You’ll immerse yourself in the serenity of Johnston Canyon and explore one of the largest non-polar icefields in the world, the Athabasca Glacier and more.
Get a Forest Fix and tap into tranquility with a virtual forest therapy walk through the verdant landscapes of Banff and Lake Louise. The walk concludes with a virtual tea ceremony and sharing circle.
While many film festivals around the world have been postponed or cancelled, The Banff Centre has put together an “Epic Films for the Great Indoors” program that allows viewers to partake in a carefully curated selection of free films the whole family can enjoy.
Take in amazing footage of Banff National Park and its wild locals as wildlife photographer Amar Athwal and Susan Staple of Parks Canada share their stories via video.
Manitoba, Winnipeg. Getty
Manitoba
Though the Assiniboine Park Conservancy and Zoo is physically closed, you can still take a look at the lives of meerkats, tigers, polar bears and more via Facebook. The zoo live-streams special 'creature features' a couple of times a week on its Facebook site.
Join guides from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights for a fascinating series of virtual tours of the museum’s exhibits and architecture. You can also download the museum’s mobile app to check out the entire museum, gallery by gallery.
Discover Winnipeg Art Gallery’s incredible collection online via hi-res images to peruse collections like Canadian Art, Indigenous Art, Contemporary Art and Government of Nunavut—there are over 30,000 works online. The WAG’s Inuit Art Centre is scheduled to open in late 2020 and will be home to the world’s largest collection of contemporary Inuit art. You can take a look at the building’s construction with architect Michael Maltzan.
Ontario
Go on an adventure through Ontario’s provincial parks via Ontario Parks series of videos. While it’s certainly not as fun as actually experiencing the great outdoors in real life, it’s the next best thing—and you don’t have to worry about mosquitoes!
Ottawa is Canada’s political center and its dynamic capital city. Wander around the new House of Commons, explore iconic landmarks with Ottawa in 360° and visit the Canadian History Hall at the Canadian Museum of History.
Jellybean Row Houses in St. John's. flickr Editorial/Getty Images
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland’s legendary iceberg tours can be wet and chilly but now you can stay warm and cozy at home as you get up close and personal with an iceberg while sailing through gorgeous Trinity Bay on a Virtual Iceberg Tour With Skipper Bob Bartlett.
Take an online tour of the exhibitions (including displays on the Titanic and the Great War) at The Rooms, Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial museum and its largest public cultural space.
Get ready for an immersive tour of Johnson GEO CENTRE, a geological interpretation center located on Signal Hill. You’ll explore the intriguing geology of the region and learn why the “coolest things are always underground” with these panoramic tours.
Watch Tale Blazers, a new video series where armchair travelers can follow along on a road trip with two friends as they travel the province in search of adventure.
The picturesque fishing village at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia. Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesI love Jeremy Clarkson's selfdeprecating humour, his wonderful accent. Also, specially the 2nd season, they way he feels about Brexit,...
