Memory Bhunu

Describe yourself in 3 words…

Part-time philosopher/ full-time goof

What inspires you?

Everything really – family, friends, the people I’m in community with, the moments I witness
day by day that feel like more than what they are.

Tell us about your worst ever gig?

It was an event I was invited to read at – the event wasn’t really advertising me or about
me, I mention this just to make myself feel better about what I’m about to say. Only 1 person came, so I was reading to that person and the 3 organisers. There had been quite deep conversation and it had to be cut short so I could read. I felt way too awkward to actually stand up and perform – the space also wasn’t set up to make that easy but I was being paid to read and I actually wanted to so I did so awkwardly in my chair. The funniest bit is that I brought a bunch of my pamphlets hoping to sell them and left with exactly the same amount I’d arrived with.

What’s your number one poetry pet peeve?

People who come just to perform and then leave. I get it if you’re travelling from city to city
and have to catch the last train, but if you want people to give you their time and attention
as an audience member, you have to be willing to give it back.

What are your favourite words?

Fickle (I love this word all the time), incongruent, fleeting, juxtaposition, still, booky, MAD!

What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

It all comes together in the end. You won’t be able to see how till it does, but it will and it
will keep coming together forever because nothing is fixed.

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

This is a really mean question. I’m gonna do breakfast, dinner and dessert. Breakfast – eggs
and toast, but the eggs need to have a little something, like chilli, tomatoes, onions, seasoning etc. Dinner – OXTAIL! I love oxtail so much… Dessert – Zimbabwean mangos or just mangos from a country like that. The ones that when you bite into, the juice dribbles down your chin…