[1] Chingono was inspired to pursue his education to become a writer and attended Nyatsime College.
[2] In 1960, at a commemoration at Mabvuku, he met Walter Lambert Muparutsa, former editor of the Literature Bureau, and showed him his poem “My Old Shoe”.
According to Muparutsa, a British colonial officer suggested he translate the poem in Shona, reflecting a bias against local writers publishing in English.
He worked as a cadet reporter with journalists such as Justin Nyoka (later Robert Mugabe's director of information), and wrote poetry along the way.
[5] Some of his work proved controversial: on 21 March 2009, speaking at an event for World Poetry Day in Bulawayo, Chingono was briefly detained after reading "My uniform", a poem treating police corruption and hunger in Zimbabwe; the poem was said to be offensive.