Zukiswa Wanner
Zukiswa Wanner (born 1976) is a South African journalist and novelist, born in Zambia and now based in Kenya. Since 2006, when she published her first book, her novels have been shortlisted for awards including the South African Literary Awards (SALA) and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. In 2015 she won the K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award for London Cape Town Joburg (2014).[1] In 2014 Wanner was named on the Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature.[2]
Life
Zukiswa Wanner was born in 1976 in Lusaka, Zambia, to a South African father and a Zimbabwean mother.[3] After receiving primary and secondary education in Zimbabwe, she studied for a degree in journalism at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu.
Her debut novel, The Madams, was published in 2006 and has been called "a racy and hilarious take on the black economic empowerment crowd in Johannesburg".[4] It was shortlisted for the K Sello Duiker Award of the South African Literary Awards (SALA) in 2007.[5] She went on to write three other novels: Behind Every Successful Man (2008), Men of the South (2010), which was shortlisted for the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa region),[6] as well as the Herman Charles Bosman Award,[7][8] and 2014's London Cape Town Joburg, which won the K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award in 2015.[1]
In 2010 she co-authored two works of non-fiction: with South African photographer Alf Kumalo A Prisoner’s Home, a biography on the first Mandela house 8115 Vilakazi Street, and L'Esprit du Sport with French photographer Amelie Debray. Wanner is co-editor of the African-Asian short-story anthology Behind the Shadows (2012) with Rohini Chowdhury.[8] In addition Wanner has written two children's books, Jama Loves Bananas and Refilwe — an African retelling of the fairy tale "Rapunzel".
She was one of 66 writers to write a contemporary response to the Bible, the works being staged at the Bush Theatre and at Westminister Abbey in October 2011.[9]
In April 2014, Wanner was named on the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature.[2]
She is a founding member of the ReadSA initiative, a campaign encouraging South Africans to read South African works.[3][5] She also sat on the pan-African literary initiative, Writivism's Board of Trustees until September 2016. She is a regular participant at international literary events and has conducted workshops for young writers in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Denmark, Germany and Western Kenya.[8][10]
Wanner was also one of three judges of the sole Pan-African literary prize for book-length fiction, the Etisalat Prize for Literature in 2015.
A prolific journalist, essayist and short story writer , she has been a contributor to a wide range of newspapers and magazines, including Enkare Review, The Observer/The Guardian, Sunday Independent, City Press, Mail & Guardian, La Republica, Open Society, Sunday Times, African Review, The New Statesman, True Love, Marie Claire, Real, Juice, OpenSpace, Wordsetc, Baobab, Shape, Oprah, Elle, Juice, Guernica, Afropolitan and Forbes Africa.[8][10][11]
She currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya, having visited for the first time in 2008 and moved there three years later.[12]
Bibliography
Novels
- The Madams, Oshun Books, 2006. ISBN 978-1770070585
- Behind Every Successful Man, Kwela Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0795702617
- Men of the South, Kwela Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0795702983
- London Cape Town Joburg, Kwela Books, 2014
Non-fiction
- 8115: A Prisoner's Home with Alf Kumalo, Penguin, 2010
- Maid in SA: 30 Ways to Leave Your Madam, Jacana, 2010. ISBN 978-1431408962
Children's books
- Jama Loves Bananas, Jacana, 2013
- Refilwe (an African retelling of "Rapunzel"), Jacana, 2014
As editor
- With Rohini Chowdhury, Behind The Shadows. Contemporary Stories from Africa and Asia (2012)
Awards
- Twenty in 20 best stories in South African literature.[13]
- South African Literary Awards (SALA) — K Sello Duiker Prize 2015 for London Cape Town Joburg
References
- ^ a b "2015 South African Literary Awards (SALAs) Winners Announced", Books Live, Sunday Times, 9 November 2015.
- ^ a b Africa39 list of artists, Hay Festival.
- ^ a b Biographical info: Zukiswa Wanner, Kwela.
- ^ "Book Releases: Men of the South by Zukiswa Wanner", The Africa Report, 28 June 2011.
- ^ a b Profile: Zukiswa Wanner, The Guardian.
- ^ 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize shortlists announced Archived 28 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 11 February 2011.
- ^ "Zukiswa Wanner", Hay Festival.
- ^ a b c d Daniel Musiiitwa, "Zukiswa Wanner" Africa Book Club, 4 July 2013.
- ^ Sixty-Six Books: 21st-century writers speak to the King James Bible, Oberon Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1849432276.
- ^ a b Zukiswa Wanner page at Amazon.
- ^ "Women in African Literature: Writing and Representation", South African History Online.
- ^ Zukiswa Wanner, "Two nations and how Zimbabwe and Kenya became one people", Daily Nation, 13 May 2006.
- ^ "The Twenty in 20 Final List: the Best Short Stories of South Africa’s Democracy", Books Live, Sunday Times, 22 July 2014.
External links
- Ambrose Musiyiwa, Zukiswa Wanner: Interview 1, Conversations with Writers, November 2008.
- Janet van Eeden, Zukiswa Wanner, author of Men of the South, LitNet, 17 August 2010.
- "Reading 2010: Zukiswa Wanner (South Africa)", Wealth of Ideas, 1 February 2011.
- In a Conversation with South African Writer, Zukiswa Wanner, Geosi Reads, 17 February 2011.
- Ambrose Musiyiwa, Zukiswa Wanner: Interview 2, Conversations with Writers, 19 February 2011.
- Kiprop Kimutai, "The Jalada Conversations No 4: Zukiswa Wanner", 30 November 2015. Jalada, a pan-African writers' collective.
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