BY DARLINGTON MWASHITA MAPHISA-BASED rising author, Ability Dube has authored his debut anthology titled Emqubeni which he describes as a mystery Ndebele novel.
Dube told NewsDay Life & Style that the anthology published by Ubuntu Afro Publishers was motivated by his love for documentaries and investigative movies.
“The title Emqubeni can be translated to The Mystery. I discovered that people love such things which are not common in isiNdebele. If one reads most of the Ndebele novels you will find storylines like child abuse, witchcraft and culture which is a good thing because it’s educative as I also write about it,” he said.
“In the novel, I decided to take a different avenue as it is about an unknown man found dead in Mpopoma suburb (Bulawayo), his particulars show that he is a police officer and the investigation established that he faked own death.
“This is where the mystery of the book is. All the events in the book are fictitious. That is why there are things we do not have in Africa, but they are in the book. Some say this is the first investigative Ndebele novel they have ever read.”
Dube said due to the rich content in the book, he had been forced to answer several probing questions from inquisitive readers.
“From the copies I have sold, people have been asking questions whether I was a police officer. I remember someone gave me extra money after purchasing a copy saying what was inside the book was worth more than the purchase price,” he said.
He said the book was available at Ubuntu Afro Publishers and Bulawayo, adding that soon the book would be also accessible in South Africa and Botswana.
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Dube started writing poetry in 2005 when he was at Msiteli Secondary School.
“I remember having a poems book I penned about Highlanders Football Club. I enjoyed doing it so much. I stopped writing until 2013 and when I started, I was writing short stories on social media,” he said.
“People loved my work, but again I stopped writing. In 2018 I then met Lindani Phiri and Agnes Dube on social media. I loved their work and again I started writing. They encouraged me to write again and in 2019 I ventured into writing a novel which I am yet to publish. In 2020 during the COVID-19-induced lockdown that is where I wrote this Emqubeni novel,” he added.
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