By Onny Gangata
GWERU based author, Dennis Gumi has bemoaned the death of the book reading culture in the country, saying urgent interventions are required to resuscitate the reading culture, as books are a vehicle for spreading important messages.
He said this on the sidelines of the launch of his most recent novel titled Recipe for disaster, in the Midlands capital last Friday.
The book tackles social vices such as child abuse and Gender Based Violence, but Gumi feels efforts by authors like him, to educate the nation, may fail to achieve the intended goal due to the death of the book reading culture in the country.
“I believe the book alone will not do much,most people, unless you tell them about these books, they do not read,” Gumi decried.
“It requires a lot of efforts and campaigns from the government and other stakeholders so that we can put across this message.”
Gumi, who is a teacher at a local school says it took him two years to complete writing the novel which was published by Dream Discoveries publishers.
The novel takes aim at modern challenges which bedevil not only parents but also the young generation.
The protagonist is a young man, Tizai, who represents bad fruits of juvenile delinquency and is seen at the centre of a sensational unfolding of drama which touches on issues making headlines today such as child prostitution.His mindset spells nothing except disastrous future for everyone around him and trouble for himself.
Gumi says, in the book, he captures all his experiences as a widely travelled educationist to put together what the young people encounter in today’s world.
“I was not inspired to write this novel, i was angered by what i see in the mining communities around the Midlands were girls are abused and nothing is done to the perpetrators,” he explained.
“Through this novel, I just wanted to pin point the mistakes that are happening so that as a society we can perhaps put an end to all this.”
Sukoluhle Sibanda of Dream Discoveries publishers said the novel was a compelling piece that aptly captures the reality in the country today.
“The themes in the book are very relevant to the world we are in, the novel is a good read and very educative, I trust that readers will enjoy the book,” she said.
