Join Our Community of Supporters by becoming a Friend of the Festival and help us uplift emerging artists in poetry, hip-hop, dance, writing, and music.
Let’s build a thriving arts scene together! For more information get in touch with us on the details below:
📧 [email protected]
🌍 www.intwasa.co.zw
📞 +263 292 263928 | 0772 814 185 | 0772 214 373 | 0782 447 731
#FriendsOfIntwasa
#intwasa25
We are excited to announce the dates for the 2025 edition of the festival.
📅 24–27 September 2025
📍 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Updates and further details on performances, activities and how to participate will be shared on this platform soon.
Let the countdown begin!
#intwasa25
📚 Announcing the Winners of the Intwasa Short Story Competition (Dr. Yvonne Vera Award 2024)! 📚
We are thrilled to reveal the exceptional storytellers whose stories have claimed this prestigious honor.
A big congratulations to the winners talented writers. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their creativity with us. Stay tuned for more opportunities to shine in the literary world!
#Intwasa2024 #DrYvonneVeraAward #ShortStoryCompetition
Traditionally, Intwasa Arts Festival has always taken place during the month of September, aligning with the season of Intwasa, hence the name. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, this year's festival has been rescheduled to November 28-30, 2024. We are excited to share that this edition will run under the theme "Imagine it, Experience it!"
In addition to the main festival program, we are introducing a series of community engagement events – a mobile stage in Cowdray Park, Nkulumane, and Mzilikazi as part of our commitment to bringing the festival closer to the people. These events, which will take place ahead of the main festival dates, are an integral part of the celebration. The mobile stage is supported by Culture Fund and the EU Delegation to Zimbabwe under the CreativeActions2 grants.
This year, we look forward to hosting a series of dynamic performances and sector development workshops, with a special focus on empowering women and young artists. Another event to look out for is our flagship event Women Wine and Words. Our commitment to delivering transformative artistic experiences for all remains at the heart of our mission. The full line up of events will be available during the first week of November.
We extend our sincere gratitude to the artists and stakeholders who continue to recognize Intwasa as a vital national platform for arts and culture. A heartfelt thank you goes out to our valued partners—European Union, Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust, Plan Zimbabwe, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, National Art Gallery in Bulawayo, Winya Sounds, Phiri Events Solutions, and all the friends of the festival—for their unwavering support.
We look forward to hosting you at the festival this year
Intwasa Arts Festival Management
📚 The Wait is Finally Over! 📚
We are thrilled to announce the 20 stories shortlisted for the Intwasa Short Story Competition (Yvonne Vera Award 2024). These talented storytellers impressed the judges with their creativity, passion, and literary brilliance. Join us in celebrating this achievement.
Stay tuned for more updates as we draw closer to the announcement of this year's winners.
Congratulations!!!
Intwasa Short Story Competition 2024
(Dr. Yvonne Vera Award)
UPDATE
We are excited to announce that we received 136 entries for this year's competition!
The stories came from across Zimbabwe and even from Zimbabweans in the diaspora, including Canada South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, and more.
The judges are hard at work, and we’ll be revealing the long-list of 20 stories by the end of September 2024!
A big thank you to all the talented writers who submitted their stories.
Stay tuned for more updates!
#Intwasa2024 #ShortStoryCompetition #YvonneVeraAward #ZimbabweWriters #Literature
Intwasa Short Story Competition
The Yvonne Vera Literary Award 2024
The Yvonne Vera Literary Award is the winning prize for the annual Intwasa Short Story Competition, named after the late Dr Yvonne Vera who was arguably one of the best writers writing in English out of Bulawayo and Zimbabwe. The annual literary competition seeks to promote and celebrate original prose writing talent in English.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
o Entries for the competition should be new, fresh, unpublished pieces written in English.
o The competition is open, there is no theme.
o Entries must be typed, in Word format and must be between 2000 and 2000 words.
o No extracts from novels will be considered; ONLY one entry per person will be considered.
o All Zimbabwean citizens living and writing from anywhere in the world are eligible for the competition.
o All entries should have a cover page with the following information
NAME, CITY/TOWN, EMAIL ADDRESS, TELEPHONE NUMBER
The writer’s name should ONLY appear on the cover page
o Only shortlisted candidates will be personally notified
HOW TO ENTER:
Entries clearly marked ‘YVONNE VERA AWARD 2024’ should be sent via email to [email protected]
Deadline for submissions – 28 June 2024
1st Prize - US$300.00
2nd Prize - US$200.00
+263 292 263928 +263 788 875 105 +263 782 447 731
www.intwasa.co.zw [email protected]
INTWASA SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2019
After a four year hiatus, the Intwasa Short Story Competition is back and calling for entries. The competition is an annual literary event seeking to promote original creative writing talent in English. The competition also seeks to promote Zimbabwean narratives from Zimbabwean writers be they in Zimbabwe or living in the diaspora. This year’s first prize is US$200. There are also four US$50 runner-up prizes for grabs.
Entry stories must be about the Zimbabwean girl child, her struggles and victories. Preferred themes are:
1. Sexual harassment (offences) against the girl child
2. Child marriages.
3. Positive models for the girl child.
The rules of the competition are as follows:
- Entries must be written in English
- Entries should be previously unpublished
- Only one entry per person
- All work must be original
- Entries must be typed.
- Maximum words are 3000 words.
- The competition is open to all Zimbabwe citizens and residents
- Entries must be submitted by June 30, 2019
- Late entries will not be accepted.
- Only the short-listed candidates will be personally notified.
The judges decision is binding and communication will not be entered into with individual writers. Entries are to have a cover sheet with the following info: name, physical address, email address, telephone number. Entrants are to pay $5 handling fee, this can be paid either in cash or via Ecocash
The Intwasa Short Story Competition is one of the very few literary writing competitions in Zimbabwe and continues to encourage and promote original Zimbabwean narratives. Young women writers are encouraged to submit their stories.
Entries clearly marked "SHORT STORY COMPETITION" to be sent to:
Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo
Studio 10,
National Gallery in Bulawayo
Joshua M. Nkomo St./L. Takawira Ave
Bulawayo
or via email to
[email protected]
[email protected]
Curatorial Statement: Mthabisi Phili
The Realities and Experiences Exhibition will open on the 28th of
September at the National Gallery in Bulawayo during the 2018 edition of Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo.
Zimbabwe has been a host of realities and experiences from social, political, economic and religious spheres. Beginning with the 2016 July protests, the Zimbabwean narrative has been consistent with events that have been our realities to present day. Zimbabwe has been a contested space since the civil protests of 2016, while some argue that the trajectory really began in November 2017. Either way the events have risen above what some would say ‘normal proportions.’
From the social, economic, political and religious spheres Zimbabwe has been awash with narratives. Though the political ‘figures’ have stood out as the movers and protagonists of this theatre called Zimbabwe the masses themselves have taken up their own fair share in the arena. From the July protests in 2016 to the “kooo” in November 2017, to the elections, protests and the current court case. These events have been exciting and painful and these experiences have been our realities. These realities cannot be separated from our past and we should not fail to see the participation from individuals, communities to organizations.
From November last year Zimbabwe has seen much change, progress in the area of free speech and at 
the same time its glances into the past have manifested ugly scenes. Zimbabwe has witnessed campaign trails, a volume of promises, bullets and blood amongst screams of joy and pain. The echoes of this place called Zimbabwe have come from every corner and have reached far and wide. Drawing attention and responses from the international community.
The narrative has been rich with experiences and feelings for any artist to capture and engage with in any form of media. In the words of Mr. Raisedon Baya “the Zimbabwean story is about realities and experiences. Since 1980 Zimbabwean people have experienced so much political, social and economic issues and challenges. These stories need to be told. This is the time to tell some of these stories.”
That is what this exhibition seeks to achieve, to be a space for people to tell those stories. The exhibition asks artists to treat the events, experiences and realities of Zimbabwe as matter and material. We need to tell these stories.
The artist is expected to:
Submit artworks in line and or relevant to the theme,
Submit artworks in 2 dimensions and 3 dimension,
The artworks need to be properly framed and ready for hanging or exhibition,
Produce new work and or submit relevant work for this exhibition,
Submit an artist’s to the provided email: [email protected]
Submit adequate details about work with work on submission: (artists statement: title of work: medium: and price)
The artist is responsible for the delivery of the work before the exhibition submission deadline and after the exhibition duration.
Regarding the sale of work (*rules of the National Gallery apply).
The deadline for submission of artworks for the exhibition is 18 September 2018.
For more information, contact Mthabisi Phili on 0773 177 979
Intwasa Extra, taking place from the 28th to the 31st of December 2017, is a spill over program from the main Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo that takes place every year during the month of September in the city of Bulawayo. The four day arts extravaganza coming under the theme “Celebrating a New Era” is basically a festive season festival bonus prepared especially for regular festival audiences and those that missed the September fiesta. Intwasa organisers are also using this opportunity to bring the comedy night which, due to unforeseen circumstances did not take place in September. But most importantly it is to celebrate Zimbabwean people’s resilience against hardship and welcoming the new feeling of hope that has engulfed the country. Intwasa Extra is using about five arts genres, namely theatre, music, poetry, comedy and arts and craft to celebrate with the rest of the country.
The objectives of the four day Extra are:
1. To celebrate human creativity and diversity
2. To empower women and young people through the arts
3. To provide new markets and collaborative opportunities for local artists and technical people
4. To welcome and celebrate the new era Zimbabwe has just entered.
The Night of Great Comedy features a strong line-up of local comedians who, throughout the year, have been at the top of their game pushing the genre of comedy in and outside Zimbabwe. The impressive line-up includes the globe-trotting and trend setting Carl Joshua Ncube, the evergreen Doc Vikela, Bulawayo Arts Awards comedy winner Ntando Van Moyo, Mandla Simbarashe & Sikhanyiso. The growth of comedy in Zimbabwe has mainly been driven by these comedians. Expect new jokes and fireworks. Watch them live as Bulawayo counts down the year 2017.
One of the highlights of this year’s Intwasa Arts Festival performances
was Umkhathi Theatre’s performance of the history inspired Ihloka. The play was written by Thabani Hillary Moyo and directed by Matesu Dube. Ihloka is a sensationally provocative and emotive piece inspired by the Ndebele uprising of 1956 against Cecil John Rhodes and white colonialists. It is back by popular demand and a must see for those that love a powerful story.
The Arrangement, a new theatre piece premieres on the 30th of December 2017, also at Bulawayo Theatre. This is Raisedon Baya’s 
fast paced and witty re-imagination of Ganesh Bagshi’s 1950’s story about young love pushed into a corner and deciding to fight back and claim its rightful place. Set in Zimbabwe, post GNU, the play is imaginatively brought to life by a young and dynamic cast under the Centre for Talent Development.
Also on the line-up, for theatre lovers is stage play by Mgcini Nyoni 
entitled Walk With Me, a collage of women’s stories of love, pain, despair and triumph in life. The play features actresses Busie, Loisianna and Tendayi and premiered on the 25th of November at Bluez Café.
One of the highlights of this extravaganza is the ever popular Women, Wine & Words with a new line up of lead performers in the form of singer & guitarist Tariro Negitare, rising star Thandi Dlana, all women ensemble Phakama Mfazi and N!A, all supported by poets Xtreme, Lady Profound, Blackpearl amongst others.
For those looking for something uniquily Zimbabwean to buy for family and friends, there'll be an Arts & Craft Market which will be held at the National Gallery in Bulawayo together with the Open Mic Poetry session mainly for young and aspiring poets which will be held under the theme "My Zim Vision". So much has been said about the new era in our nation, we get to hear what poets have to say about the new Zimbabwe. 
Some of the guest poets who will perform are Madzitatiguru, Izwi, Cypher & Asa, Raelyric (Hre), Graves the Prodigal Sun (Hre) and others. This event is in partnership with Patsime Trust, Pamberi Trust and Arts Hub Zimbabwe.
Rounding up the program is the All White Party, our laid back event to welcome the new year. Please come through, bring your family, friends and enjoy with us.
For more info, tickets get in touch with us via email on [email protected] or call us on +263 772 814 185, +263 782 447 731, +263 772 214 373
#IntwasaExtra
