Take Five with Mutendei Nabutete

Creative writer Mutendei Nabutete says if you can write a good short story, you can write anything. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • I look out for dynamic characters and authentic stories, and I employ the same approach in my writing.

Mutendei Nabutete is a creative writer who uses his skills to articulate underrepresented or misrepresented subject matters, and to bring to life unique characters.

His content covers diverse perspectives, and includes poems and short stories, novels, comics and films.

His work can be found on www.mutendeiwrites.wordpress.com, and he is developing two anthologies: Basodee and Black like we. His books include Shadow Walkers, Spruce Avenue, A Thriller Story, Everything Mutendei, The IdeaBankisims and the Poetry Express. He discusses about his experiences.

Among your many works of art, which is your favourite?

Writing for film. However, I am also a huge lover of short story writing. If you can write a good short story, you can write anything.

Does fantasy writing come naturally for you?

I have always loved African history and fantasy writing. Therefore, fusing our history with mythological adventure stories was easy for me. With this genre, I hope to appeal to modern, younger readers.

How hard was it to convert your novel, Shadow Walkers, into a comic book?

It was a huge creative challenge, especially because Shadow Walkers was a large manuscript. I chose to launch it as a comic series, and I encountered the greatest challenge when trying to choose the right chapter to adopt for the first issue.

What are you reading now?

A collection of short stories and a biography with the view of adding new lens to my writing.

As an actor, what kind of scripts or characters do you enjoy getting involved with?

I look out for dynamic characters and authentic stories, and I employ the same approach in my writing. I believe that if the character or story cannot be made memorable, then it's not worth pursuing.