"Write or Go Mad" is the title of the first essay I wrote about Dambudzo Marechera. It originated from my final assignment for a correspondence course in journalistic writing I had started in 1982 in Nurnberg and continued once we had moved to Zimbabwe. The course inspired me to write about Zimbabwe’s literary scene, visit cultural events, interview writers and publishers. This became the springboard for my development as a writer. 

 

After Marechera’s death, the original German version of the essay was published as an obituary by the newspaper Die Tageszeitung in Berlin: “Schreiben gegen den Wahnsinn”.