Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure

Zvadzugwa Musango Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure

A collection of poetry originally written in Shona by Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure. "Zvadzugwa Musango" directly translates to "Uprooted from their natural habitat" and explores issues and celebrations of displaced immigrants and refugees living in the diaspora.

Samantha was born in the district of Barking and Dagenham (London, United Kingdom) in 1981, to Zimbabwean parents who were studying in the United Kingdom and returned to Zimbabwe a couple of years after independence. Samantha's father is of Karanga origin and her late mother was Zezuru. Samantha spent her childhood in Masvingo, Zimbabwe where she completed her education at Victoria Primary School and Victoria High Boarding School respectively. She returned to the United Kingdom in 1999 after completing her A levels. She studied Law and Business Administration at the University of Kent in Canterbury and proceeded to study a Postgraduate Diploma in European Politics, Business and Law at the University of Surrey. Samantha works as a financial services professional. She is married to her childhood sweetheart, and together they have two children.

Having lived in the UK for 20 years, Samantha felt inspired to write Shona poetry, not only to preserve and promote the Shona language and culture, but to encourage younger generations of immigrants to feel proud of who they are and where they are from. Having studied the Shona language, Literature in English and Divinity at A Level, Samantha has always felt compelled to write. The Karanga dialect is widely spoken in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe where Samantha grew up, and is unapologetically applied in her poetry. Issues explored through her poetry include equality, mental health challenges, abuse and toxicity in relationships, bullying and challenges of raising young families in the diaspora, to name but a few.