About: Ignatius Mabasa

Ignatius Tirivangani Mabasa (born 1971) is a Zimbabwean writer, storyteller, and musician, who writes mainly in Shona. Mabasa was born in Mount Darwin and grew up on his grandfather's farm there. He attended school in Chitungwiza, where he began to write short stories. He studied Shona and linguistics at the University of Zimbabwe. He was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of Oslo, where he received the M.Phil. in Media, Democracy and Development in 1998. The following year, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach writing and literature in Illinois. Mabasa is the first Zimbabwean to write a PhD thesis in Shona at Rhodes University, South Africa.