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Irene Staunton

February 10, 2023

Irene Staunton is a Zimbabwean publisher, editor, researcher and writer, who has worked in literature and the arts since the 1970s, both in the UK and Zimbabwe. She is co-founder and publisher of Weaver Press in Harare, having previously co-founded Baobab Books. Staunton is the editor of several notable anthologies covering oral history, short stories, and poetry, including Mothers of the Revolution: War Experiences of Thirty Zimbabwean Women (1990),[1] Children in our Midst: Voices of Farmworker's Children (2000), Writing Still: New Stories from Zimbabwe (2003),[2] Women Writing Zimbabwe (2008),[3] Writing Free (2011),[4] and Writing Mystery & Mayhem (2015).[5]

Career

Staunton was born in Southern Rhodesia, which later became Zimbabwe, and studied English literature in the UK.[6] She began her career in publishing in London, where she was employed by John Calder.[1] Following the 1980 Independence of Zimbabwe, she returned there and worked as an editor first for the Department of Culture in the Ministry of Education and Culture, and then on the Curriculum Development Unit in the same Ministry.[1][7]

Baobab Books

In 1987 Staunton and Hugh Lewin co-founded Baobab Press,[8][9] "which rapidly acquired a reputation as an exciting literary publisher",[10] and during her 11 years there the company published a range of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's books, art books and textbooks.[1] Baobab's list included prizewinning work by such authors as Chenjerai Hove (Noma Award for Publishing in Africa) and Shimmer Chinodya (winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Africa region), as well as the posthumous work of Dambudzo Marechera, and all of Yvonne Vera's fiction.[1] Baobab also published several collections of poetry, including one by the performance poet, Chirikure Chirikure.[11] While at Baobab Books, Staunton compiled the first Zimbabwean oral history with narratives of women in the liberation struggle, Mothers of the Revolution.[1] She has said: "I was very fortunate in that my parents taught us to respect people from all walks of life and showed us that what mattered was not money or status but warmth, compassion, humour and integrity – values rooted in self-respect and human dignity. My mother was also involved in the Federation of African Women’s Clubs, doing voluntary work that she enjoyed very much and which gave me, through her, access to strong, gentle, humorous women working long hours for their families in rural areas."[7]

Weaver Press

In 1999 Staunton left Baobab and began setting up Weaver Press with Murray McCartney, also working part-time for the Heinemann African Writers Series until 2003.[1] Established as a small independent general publishing company, producing books by and about Zimbabwe (encompassing literary fiction, history, politics, social studies and gender issues),[12][13] Weaver Press now counts among its successful authors Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, NoViolet Bulawayo, Brian Chikwava, Shimmer Chinodya, Petina Gappah, Tendai Huchu, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Sekai Nzenza, Valerie Tagwira, Yvonne Vera, and others.[14] Tinashe Mushkavanhu has written of Staunton: "It was the work of writers she published that always occupied center stage, winning international accolades, or getting translated. ...Weaver Press has been the most active publishing concern in Zimbabwe in a struggling economy".[15] The company's fiction programme has been developed with support from Dutch NGO Hivos.[12][16]

Related literary activities

Staunton has for many years concerned herself with research through oral histories, sometimes in projects with other organizations, focusing on otherwise unheard African voices, particularly of Zimbabwean women and children.[1][17][18]

She has worked with Save the Children Zimbabwe on various publications, including Children in Our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers' Children (2000), based on interviews with (and including drawings by) hundreds of children moving from farm school to farm school in rural Zimbabwe, who speak on the range of issues that affect them. The reviewer for the journal Children, Youth and Environments wrote: "The chapters, composed entirely of the children's written or recorded statements, cover many aspects of the children’s lives, including their sense of self ('I am a child'), families, homes, work experience, school, customs and play ('Sometimes we have fun'). ...This is not simply a book that publishes the opinions of working children. It is a book that challenges our Western assumptions about healthy childhood. It paints vivid pictures of what it is like to grow up on commercial farms in Zimbabwe, with work responsibilities from a very young age integrated into education and upbringing, as a legitimate aspect of the local traditions."[19]

In collaboration with Chiedza Musengezi of Zimbabwe Women Writers, Staunton compiled A Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe, based on interviews with former female prisoners, and Women of Resilience: The Voices of Women Ex-combatants (2000).[20]

Staunton's own short story "Pauline's Ghost" was shortlisted for the 2009 PEN/Studzinski Literary Award, judged by J. M. Coetzee.[21][22]

Well respected as an editor and publisher whose authors regularly win prizes[23] — Stanley Gazemba in his recent article "African Publishing Minefields and the Woes of the African Writer" commends the attention paid by Staunton "to the editing process and the design and quality of her books"[24] — she has been an invited participant in local and international literary events.[25][26][27] She has edited a number of well received collections of Zimbabwean writing,[24][28] and has also written articles on publishing in Zimbabwe.[29] For 12 years from 2003 she worked closely with Poetry International as their Zimbabwe editor, handing over the role in 2015 to Togara Muzanenhamo.[30] Speaking in a 2011 interview Staunton said: "Editors are a bit like stage-hands: the play can't go on without them, and yet their role is necessarily in the shadows. It is, however, interesting to see how many writers acknowledge their editors – the third eye is of value."[7]

Personal life

Staunton is married to Murray McCartney, whom she met while he was deputy director of the Africa Centre in London. McCartney moved to Harare with her in 1983,[31] and is a director of Weaver Press.[6]

Selected bibliography

As editor
  • Mothers of the Revolution: War Experiences of Thirty Zimbabwean Women, Harare: Baobab Books, 1990; London, UK: James Currey, 1991. Reprinted Harare: Weaver Press, 2020, ISBN 9781779223586.
  • Children in Our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers' Children (ed. Irene McCartney), Harare: Weaver Press, with Save the Children, 2000. ISBN 978-0797420328.[32]
  • (with Chiedza Musengezi) A Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe, Harare: Weaver Press, 2000. ISBN 1779220170.
  • (with Chiedza Musengezi) Women of Resilience: the voices of ex-combatants, Harare: Zimbabwe Women Writers, 2000. ISBN 9780797420021.
  • We have Something to Say: Children in Zimbabwe Speak Out, Children's Consortium, 2002. ISBN 9780797424029.
  • Writing Still: New Stories from Zimbabwe, Harare: Weaver Press, 2003. ISBN 1-77922-018-9.
  • Laughing Now. New Stories from Zimbabwe, Harare: Weaver Press, 2005. ISBN 1-77922-043-X.
  • Our Broken Dreams – Child Migration in Southern Africa (ed. with Chris McIvor and Chris Björnestad), Weaver Press, 2008. ISBN 9781779220707.
  • Women Writing Zimbabwe, Harare: Weaver Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-77922-073-8.
  • Writing Free, Harare: Weaver Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-77922-157-5.
  • Writing Lives, Harare: Weaver Press, 2014. ISBN 978-1-77922-270-1.
  • Writing Mystery & Mayhem, Harare: Weaver Press, 2015. ISBN 978-1-77922-278-7.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Magadza, Moses (6 March 2014), "Meeting legendary editor Irene Staunton", Pambazuka News.
  2. ^ Roscoe, Adrian (2007), "Writing Still: New Stories from Zimbabwe", in The Columbia Guide to Central African Literature in English Since 1945, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 254.
  3. ^ Hewett, Heather, "'Tell Our Own Stories': Contemporary African Women's Fiction", Women's Review of Books, Wellesley Centers for Women.
  4. ^ Fredua-Agyeman, Nana (20 June 2012), "176. Writing Free by Irene Staunton (Editor)", ImageNations: Promoting African Literature.
  5. ^ Mudzonga, Tawanda (14 December 2015), "Book Review: Writing Mystery and Mayhem", Harare News.
  6. ^ a b "Staff", Weaver Press website.
  7. ^ a b c Xu, Chenni (28 February 2011), "'Opening Up Worlds…': An Interview With Irene Staunton", WoWWire, Women's WorldWide Web.
  8. ^ Bookworm (22 June 2015), "The Patriot and expatriots", The Standard (Zimbabwe).
  9. ^ "Advisory Board", Warscapes.
  10. ^ "Irene Staunton", African Books Collective.
  11. ^ Africa in Words interview with Irene Staunton
  12. ^ a b Klother, Annelie (2007), "'You need to have the idea, the vision, and the passion: An Interview with Irene Staunton" (February 2006). In Mbongeni Z. Malaba and Geoffrey V. Davis (eds), Zimbabwean Transitions: Essays on Zimbabwean Literature in English, Ndebele and Shona, Amsterdam/New York: Editions Rodopi, 2007, p. 214.
  13. ^ Weaver Press at 24symbols.
  14. ^ "Biographies", Weaver Press website.
  15. ^ Mushakavanhu, Tinashe (11 January 2017), "In Pursuit of Publishing", Medium.
  16. ^ Goodman, Martin (4 March 2006), "Fighting for fiction", The Guardian.
  17. ^ Women Writing Zimbabwe at African Books Collective.
  18. ^ Van Eeden, Janet (3 November 2008), Review of Our Broken Dreams - Child Migration in Southern Africa, Sunday Independent. Cited at "Reviews", Weaver Press website.
  19. ^ Christopher Lowry, Review of Children in our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers' Children , Children, Youth and Environments, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2004). Cited at "Reviews", Weaver Press website.
  20. ^ "Chiedza Musengezi", Weaver Press.
  21. ^ Loker, Byron (5 February 2009), "SA PEN announces finalists for 2009 PEN/Studzinski Literary Award", iBhuku.
  22. ^ "Zimbabwe: Staunton Shortlisted for Literary Award", The Herald, via AllAfrica, 1 July 2009.
  23. ^ Zegeye, Abebe, and Maurice Vambe (eds), Close to the Sources: Essays on Contemporary African Culture, Politics and Academy, Routledge, 2011, pp. 76, 87.
  24. ^ a b Gazemba, Stanley (13 December 2019), "African Publishing Minefields and the Woes of the African Writer", The Elephant.
  25. ^ "A different window on Zimbabwe – A Special Focus during the Poetry International Festival", Rotterdam, 1 June 2008. Poetry International Archives.
  26. ^ "11th Time of the Writer 25-30 March 2008 International Writers Festival", Kenyan Poet, 6 March 2008.
  27. ^ "Festivalul Palabra en el Mundo – Canada 2010".
  28. ^ Chidavaenzi, Phillip (March 2015), "Anthology captures the hearts, minds of readers", Between the Lines, NewsDay.
  29. ^ Staunton, Irene (2016), "Publishing for Pleasure in Zimbabwe", Wasafiri, 31:4 (Print Activism in Twenty-first Century Africa. Guest edited by Ruth Bush and Madhu Krishnan), pp. 49–54. DOI: 10.1080/02690055.2016.1216282.
  30. ^ "'The third eye is of value' | A note of gratitude & farewell from PI Zimbabwe editor Irene Staunton", Poetry International Archives, 5 November 2015.
  31. ^ "Murray McCartney", UWC International, The United World Colleges (International).
  32. ^ McCartney, Irene (2000), Children in Our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers' Children, via Amazon.

Further reading

  • Irene Staunton (2016), "Publishing for Pleasure in Zimbabwe", Wasafiri, 31:4 (Print Activism in Twenty-first Century Africa. Guest edited by Ruth Bush and Madhu Krishnan), pp. 49–54. DOI: 10.1080/02690055.2016.1216282.
  • Annelie Klother, "'You need to have the idea, the vision, and the passion: An Interview with Irene Staunton", in Mbongeni Z. Malaba and Geoffrey V. Davis (eds), Zimbabwean Transitions: Essays on Zimbabwean Literature in English, Ndebele and Shona, Matatu 34; Amsterdam/New York: Editions Rodopi, 2007, pp. 211–217.

External links

  • Weaver Press website
  • Terence Ranger, "The Fruits of The Baobab: Irene Staunton and the Zimbabwean Novel", Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 25, No. 4 (December 1999), pp. 695–701. Published online 4 August 2010.
  • "Zimbabwean Literary Initiatives: A Conversation with Weaver Press", Harare, Pan African Space Station (PASS).

February 10, 2023
irene, staunton, zimbabwean, publisher, editor, researcher, writer, worked, literature, arts, since, 1970s, both, zimbabwe, founder, publisher, weaver, press, harare, having, previously, founded, baobab, books, staunton, editor, several, notable, anthologies, . Irene Staunton is a Zimbabwean publisher editor researcher and writer who has worked in literature and the arts since the 1970s both in the UK and Zimbabwe She is co founder and publisher of Weaver Press in Harare having previously co founded Baobab Books Staunton is the editor of several notable anthologies covering oral history short stories and poetry including Mothers of the Revolution War Experiences of Thirty Zimbabwean Women 1990 1 Children in our Midst Voices of Farmworker s Children 2000 Writing Still New Stories from Zimbabwe 2003 2 Women Writing Zimbabwe 2008 3 Writing Free 2011 4 and Writing Mystery amp Mayhem 2015 5 Contents 1 Career 1 1 Baobab Books 1 2 Weaver Press 1 3 Related literary activities 2 Personal life 3 Selected bibliography 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksCareer EditStaunton was born in Southern Rhodesia which later became Zimbabwe and studied English literature in the UK 6 She began her career in publishing in London where she was employed by John Calder 1 Following the 1980 Independence of Zimbabwe she returned there and worked as an editor first for the Department of Culture in the Ministry of Education and Culture and then on the Curriculum Development Unit in the same Ministry 1 7 Baobab Books Edit In 1987 Staunton and Hugh Lewin co founded Baobab Press 8 9 which rapidly acquired a reputation as an exciting literary publisher 10 and during her 11 years there the company published a range of fiction non fiction poetry children s books art books and textbooks 1 Baobab s list included prizewinning work by such authors as Chenjerai Hove Noma Award for Publishing in Africa and Shimmer Chinodya winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize Africa region as well as the posthumous work of Dambudzo Marechera and all of Yvonne Vera s fiction 1 Baobab also published several collections of poetry including one by the performance poet Chirikure Chirikure 11 While at Baobab Books Staunton compiled the first Zimbabwean oral history with narratives of women in the liberation struggle Mothers of the Revolution 1 She has said I was very fortunate in that my parents taught us to respect people from all walks of life and showed us that what mattered was not money or status but warmth compassion humour and integrity values rooted in self respect and human dignity My mother was also involved in the Federation of African Women s Clubs doing voluntary work that she enjoyed very much and which gave me through her access to strong gentle humorous women working long hours for their families in rural areas 7 Weaver Press Edit In 1999 Staunton left Baobab and began setting up Weaver Press with Murray McCartney also working part time for the Heinemann African Writers Series until 2003 1 Established as a small independent general publishing company producing books by and about Zimbabwe encompassing literary fiction history politics social studies and gender issues 12 13 Weaver Press now counts among its successful authors Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie NoViolet Bulawayo Brian Chikwava Shimmer Chinodya Petina Gappah Tendai Huchu Sarah Ladipo Manyika Sekai Nzenza Valerie Tagwira Yvonne Vera and others 14 Tinashe Mushkavanhu has written of Staunton It was the work of writers she published that always occupied center stage winning international accolades or getting translated Weaver Press has been the most active publishing concern in Zimbabwe in a struggling economy 15 The company s fiction programme has been developed with support from Dutch NGO Hivos 12 16 Related literary activities Edit Staunton has for many years concerned herself with research through oral histories sometimes in projects with other organizations focusing on otherwise unheard African voices particularly of Zimbabwean women and children 1 17 18 She has worked with Save the Children Zimbabwe on various publications including Children in Our Midst Voices of Farmworkers Children 2000 based on interviews with and including drawings by hundreds of children moving from farm school to farm school in rural Zimbabwe who speak on the range of issues that affect them The reviewer for the journal Children Youth and Environments wrote The chapters composed entirely of the children s written or recorded statements cover many aspects of the children s lives including their sense of self I am a child families homes work experience school customs and play Sometimes we have fun This is not simply a book that publishes the opinions of working children It is a book that challenges our Western assumptions about healthy childhood It paints vivid pictures of what it is like to grow up on commercial farms in Zimbabwe with work responsibilities from a very young age integrated into education and upbringing as a legitimate aspect of the local traditions 19 In collaboration with Chiedza Musengezi of Zimbabwe Women Writers Staunton compiled A Tragedy of Lives Women in Prison in Zimbabwe based on interviews with former female prisoners and Women of Resilience The Voices of Women Ex combatants 2000 20 Staunton s own short story Pauline s Ghost was shortlisted for the 2009 PEN Studzinski Literary Award judged by J M Coetzee 21 22 Well respected as an editor and publisher whose authors regularly win prizes 23 Stanley Gazemba in his recent article African Publishing Minefields and the Woes of the African Writer commends the attention paid by Staunton to the editing process and the design and quality of her books 24 she has been an invited participant in local and international literary events 25 26 27 She has edited a number of well received collections of Zimbabwean writing 24 28 and has also written articles on publishing in Zimbabwe 29 For 12 years from 2003 she worked closely with Poetry International as their Zimbabwe editor handing over the role in 2015 to Togara Muzanenhamo 30 Speaking in a 2011 interview Staunton said Editors are a bit like stage hands the play can t go on without them and yet their role is necessarily in the shadows It is however interesting to see how many writers acknowledge their editors the third eye is of value 7 Personal life EditStaunton is married to Murray McCartney whom she met while he was deputy director of the Africa Centre in London McCartney moved to Harare with her in 1983 31 and is a director of Weaver Press 6 Selected bibliography EditAs editorMothers of the Revolution War Experiences of Thirty Zimbabwean Women Harare Baobab Books 1990 London UK James Currey 1991 Reprinted Harare Weaver Press 2020 ISBN 9781779223586 Children in Our Midst Voices of Farmworkers Children ed Irene McCartney Harare Weaver Press with Save the Children 2000 ISBN 978 0797420328 32 with Chiedza Musengezi A Tragedy of Lives Women in Prison in Zimbabwe Harare Weaver Press 2000 ISBN 1779220170 with Chiedza Musengezi Women of Resilience the voices of ex combatants Harare Zimbabwe Women Writers 2000 ISBN 9780797420021 We have Something to Say Children in Zimbabwe Speak Out Children s Consortium 2002 ISBN 9780797424029 Writing Still New Stories from Zimbabwe Harare Weaver Press 2003 ISBN 1 77922 018 9 Laughing Now New Stories from Zimbabwe Harare Weaver Press 2005 ISBN 1 77922 043 X Our Broken Dreams Child Migration in Southern Africa ed with Chris McIvor and Chris Bjornestad Weaver Press 2008 ISBN 9781779220707 Women Writing Zimbabwe Harare Weaver Press 2008 ISBN 978 1 77922 073 8 Writing Free Harare Weaver Press 2011 ISBN 978 1 77922 157 5 Writing Lives Harare Weaver Press 2014 ISBN 978 1 77922 270 1 Writing Mystery amp Mayhem Harare Weaver Press 2015 ISBN 978 1 77922 278 7 References Edit a b c d e f g h Magadza Moses 6 March 2014 Meeting legendary editor Irene Staunton Pambazuka News Roscoe Adrian 2007 Writing Still New Stories from Zimbabwe in The Columbia Guide to Central African Literature in English Since 1945 New York Columbia University Press p 254 Hewett Heather Tell Our Own Stories Contemporary African Women s Fiction Women s Review of Books Wellesley Centers for Women Fredua Agyeman Nana 20 June 2012 176 Writing Free by Irene Staunton Editor ImageNations Promoting African Literature Mudzonga Tawanda 14 December 2015 Book Review Writing Mystery and Mayhem Harare News a b Staff Weaver Press website a b c Xu Chenni 28 February 2011 Opening Up Worlds An Interview With Irene Staunton WoWWire Women s WorldWide Web Bookworm 22 June 2015 The Patriot and expatriots The Standard Zimbabwe Advisory Board Warscapes Irene Staunton African Books Collective Africa in Words interview with Irene Staunton a b Klother Annelie 2007 You need to have the idea the vision and the passion An Interview with Irene Staunton February 2006 In Mbongeni Z Malaba and Geoffrey V Davis eds Zimbabwean Transitions Essays on Zimbabwean Literature in English Ndebele and Shona Amsterdam New York Editions Rodopi 2007 p 214 Weaver Press at 24symbols Biographies Weaver Press website Mushakavanhu Tinashe 11 January 2017 In Pursuit of Publishing Medium Goodman Martin 4 March 2006 Fighting for fiction The Guardian Women Writing Zimbabwe at African Books Collective Van Eeden Janet 3 November 2008 Review of Our Broken Dreams Child Migration in Southern Africa Sunday Independent Cited at Reviews Weaver Press website Christopher Lowry Review of Children in our Midst Voices of Farmworkers Children Children Youth and Environments Vol 14 No 2 2004 Cited at Reviews Weaver Press website Chiedza Musengezi Weaver Press Loker Byron 5 February 2009 SA PEN announces finalists for 2009 PEN Studzinski Literary Award iBhuku Zimbabwe Staunton Shortlisted for Literary Award The Herald via AllAfrica 1 July 2009 Zegeye Abebe and Maurice Vambe eds Close to the Sources Essays on Contemporary African Culture Politics and Academy Routledge 2011 pp 76 87 a b Gazemba Stanley 13 December 2019 African Publishing Minefields and the Woes of the African Writer The Elephant A different window on Zimbabwe A Special Focus during the Poetry International Festival Rotterdam 1 June 2008 Poetry International Archives 11th Time of the Writer 25 30 March 2008 International Writers Festival Kenyan Poet 6 March 2008 Festivalul Palabra en el Mundo Canada 2010 Chidavaenzi Phillip March 2015 Anthology captures the hearts minds of readers Between the Lines NewsDay Staunton Irene 2016 Publishing for Pleasure in Zimbabwe Wasafiri 31 4 Print Activism in Twenty first Century Africa Guest edited by Ruth Bush and Madhu Krishnan pp 49 54 DOI 10 1080 02690055 2016 1216282 The third eye is of value A note of gratitude amp farewell from PI Zimbabwe editor Irene Staunton Poetry International Archives 5 November 2015 Murray McCartney UWC International The United World Colleges International McCartney Irene 2000 Children in Our Midst Voices of Farmworkers Children via Amazon Further reading EditIrene Staunton 2016 Publishing for Pleasure in Zimbabwe Wasafiri 31 4 Print Activism in Twenty first Century Africa Guest edited by Ruth Bush and Madhu Krishnan pp 49 54 DOI 10 1080 02690055 2016 1216282 Annelie Klother You need to have the idea the vision and the passion An Interview with Irene Staunton in Mbongeni Z Malaba and Geoffrey V Davis eds Zimbabwean Transitions Essays on Zimbabwean Literature in English Ndebele and Shona Matatu 34 Amsterdam New York Editions Rodopi 2007 pp 211 217 External links EditWeaver Press website Terence Ranger The Fruits of The Baobab Irene Staunton and the Zimbabwean Novel Journal of Southern African Studies Vol 25 No 4 December 1999 pp 695 701 Published online 4 August 2010 Zimbabwean Literary Initiatives A Conversation with Weaver Press Harare Pan African Space Station PASS Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Irene Staunton amp oldid 1044908492, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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