Reading 2010: Zukiswa Wanner (South Africa)

This brief interview features a young, dynamic South African writer, Zukiswa Wanner. She is a Joburg-residing novelist, blogger, and short-story writer. Zukiswa was born in Zambia to a South African father and a Zimbabwean mother. Her mother claims that she has been rebellious ever since her birth at the momentous time of the Soweto Uprisings.



Wanner, who did her primary and high school education in Zimbabwe, studied journalism at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu. Her debut novel, The Madams, published in November 2006, dealt with racial role reversals in post-apartheid South Africa. In addition to writing fiction, she has also contributed essays to Oprah, Elle and Juice magazines, and literary reviews and essays to Afropolitan and Sunday Independent. Behind Every Successful Man (2008)is her second novel. A funky, witty tale of a mother turned entrepreneur – to the great exasperation of Andile, her husband and BEE tycoon.



Zukiswa is a founder member of the ReadSA initiative, a campaign encouraging South Africa to read South African works, together with other South African writers.Her third novel, Men of the South, came out in June 2010.



Zukiswa was too busy to make a list of the books she read in 2010 since I approached deep in the festive season, but I appreciated the time she took to share her thoughts about reading and writing. Below is the interview.

Brief Interview with Zukiswa Wanner

1. You recently announced that you ran out of books to read, that's really nice to hear. Approximately how many did you read?

I average about 2 books a week, more if there is less work writing work coming in. I have just finished Tendai Huchu's Hairdresser of Harare which I started yesterday (December 23)and on Wednesday when I did the status update (on Facebook), I had just finished Jassy Mackenzie's Stolen Lives. I am currently reading the Caine Prize short stories - A Life in Full. There are those who say I need a life beyond books. I say there is no life beyond books. Perhaps after, but not beyond.

2. What kinds of books do you like to read? Do you choose books by certain authors at specific times or do you read what's available?

I do NOT read so-called self-help books. Everything else is game. I am a particular fan of all sorts of fiction and in non-fiction, I love biographies.

3. Do you read as a writer or just as a reader enjoying (or not enjoying) the books you are reading?

Both I suppose. I can't divorce one from the other. I find myself admiring the prose of other writers and wishing I could write like them, as well as criticising any editorial or literary mistakes that I may encounter,but as a reader I have an obsession with finishing every book I start reading no matter what my reservations may be about it when I start reading because I always think that's the best way to judge the book fairly. I must say in this regard that I have read many books that have brilliant plots but lousy editing and vice-versa.

4. What's your balance of books read, more classics or more contemporaries?

I am a firm believer in celebrating the living so I tend to read more contemporary stuff and read classics only when my contemporary books are done.


5. What is the effect of reading to your own writing? Does it sometimes get in the way of your writing?

I try not to let my reading get in the way of my writing but alas, every now and again it does. I find it easier to excuse my not writing when I am reading a book than at any other time. On the other hand, I would not have it any other way as I always learn something new from reading - whether I find myself appreciating the book I have just finished reading or not. Forget phD in Literature or any such thing. The greatest way to improve your writing, in my opinion, is through exposing oneself to as much literature as possible so one can decide what to do/not to do and find their own voice, stylistically.

6. To the curious, who is Zukiswa?

Zukiswa is a writer, a mother, an African, and a woman - in that order.

Zukiswa and Wole Soyinka.