Meet NoViolet (Mkha) Bulawayo, Zimbabwean Writer
Uk-based Zimbabwean author and scholar, Tinashe Mushakavanhu, has interviewed NoViolet Mkha Bulawayo, a young Zimbabwean writer who was highly commended by J.M Coetzee in the PEN/Studzinski Literary Award for her short story "Snapshots". Mkha is an MFA student at Cornell University. Read the interview at arstinitiates.
Mkha blogs at NoViolet. Go there and learn some Ndebele while reading about literature.
Here are some numbers from the literary contest Mkha received the honorable mention:
The 2009 PEN/Studzinski award attracted an unprecedented 827 entries, 625 of which met with the rules of entry. A team of 38 readers undertook 1446 readings under strict rules of author anonymity to shortlist 195 stories, and 34 stories were chosen as finalists by the PEN Editorial Board comprising Shaun Johnson, Anthony Fleischer, Justin Fox, Harry Garuba, Alastair King and Mary Watson. The finalists' stories will be published in an anthology, New Writing from Africa 2009, due for release shortly.
The majority (672) of entries were received from South African authors. Of the 155 non-South African authors, the majority (76) came from Nigeria, while entries were also received from Algeria, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe. With no age limit, the award attracted entries from all ages ranging from 10 (the youngest entrant) to 101 (the oldest). The 30 - 40 age group was the most prolific and 25 of the 34 finalist stories were written by women.
Mkha blogs at NoViolet. Go there and learn some Ndebele while reading about literature.
Here are some numbers from the literary contest Mkha received the honorable mention:
The 2009 PEN/Studzinski award attracted an unprecedented 827 entries, 625 of which met with the rules of entry. A team of 38 readers undertook 1446 readings under strict rules of author anonymity to shortlist 195 stories, and 34 stories were chosen as finalists by the PEN Editorial Board comprising Shaun Johnson, Anthony Fleischer, Justin Fox, Harry Garuba, Alastair King and Mary Watson. The finalists' stories will be published in an anthology, New Writing from Africa 2009, due for release shortly.
The majority (672) of entries were received from South African authors. Of the 155 non-South African authors, the majority (76) came from Nigeria, while entries were also received from Algeria, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe. With no age limit, the award attracted entries from all ages ranging from 10 (the youngest entrant) to 101 (the oldest). The 30 - 40 age group was the most prolific and 25 of the 34 finalist stories were written by women.
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