A poetic, impressionistic read that follows Shamiso from her early childhood in rural Zimbabwe, to Harare, and then to university in Brighton on an arts scholarship. The read exists within these clashes and transitions: of space and location, of culture, and of Shamiso's identity as she attempts to navigate and understand the disparate fragments of who she is. The result offers us a truly unique perspective: fluid, enlightening and questioning.
I was unsure what the slingshot was for but stopped thinking about it when Babamukuru Jimson bought me a pendant. It was a reward for accompanying him, he said.
The pendant was a stone carving of Nyami Nyami, the River God, the spirit snake. My first instinct was fear that one day I would break it. It looked fragile, a needle of stone with Nyami Nyami's serpentine body coiled up and gathered at the top, where instead of a snake's head, a fierce fish's head sprung out bearing sharp teeth. It was surprisingly heavy. I wore it straight away.
A snake with a fish's head. It was a strange form, as it all life forms were connected and fluid in their existence. No-one had ever give me anything like this before.
