Aaron Chiundura Moyo was so passionate about getting a lifetime partner that he “married” his art at the age of 16.
REPORT BY GODWIN MUZARI The famed author however forgot to look for a wife.
The renowned author made the shock admission last week as he narrated to StandardLife&Style how his passion for writing blinkered him from some basic societal expectations like marriage. He conceded he never had a wife and was unlikely to ever have one.
Moyo blamed himself for not being able to live with a woman under his roof, even under customary blessings.
Despite having two children, the 62-year-old writer said some women he flirted with could not stay with him because he would always treat them as props to complement his writings.
“My problem was that I would take women I fell in love with as experimental objects. I admit that I would tempt them extremely and I believe they saw no future with me,” said Moyo.
“I tested them because I wanted to know how they would react under certain circumstances so that they would be characters in my writings.”
“The other problem was that I was looking for a woman who resembled my mother. I was looking for motherly love in a woman who could be my wife and I ignored the fact that the two roles were completely different.”
The author now regrets the way he treated his potential wives and admits he erred beyond redemption. He doubts if he will ever be able to marry.
Moyo said if he were to find a partner, he would have to establish a new home for the wife because he did not want to have a spouse in his current house in Glen View 3 which he shares with his children.
“My children are grown up and I do not want to take this property from them. I built it for them and marrying while staying here means complicating the inheritance plan. If I get enough resources, I will get another place and marry but that option is out at the moment.”
He sired a son with the late talented actress Sithembeni Makawa and a daughter with another woman.
The daughter is at university and the son recently completed his A’ Level.
After being retrenched from Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and parting ways with Studio 263, Moyo has been entirely dependent on returns from his writings and productions that have been massively depleted by piracy and the demise of the publishing industry.
But the author has a colourful story of his life as a young writer who worked as a grinding mill operator before he became a “garden boy”. His writings helped him pay for his education up to A’ Level. He built his nice house from proceeds of his writings.
Moyo also has a fascinating story of how his young brother, Jonah Moyo of Deverangwena Jazz Band, was brighter than him at school yet, when they became artists, some people said the author would write songs for the musician.
“I never wrote a song for him. He was brighter than me at school and he is a good artist. He did his own compositions.”
He also talked about how his uncle “baptised” him with beer as a small boy and named him Chiundura because he looked like someone with that name in their village.
“He gave me whisky he was drinking and told everyone that he had renamed me. I got drunk and I am told that I danced wildly. That was the only time I tasted beer.”