Petina Gappah wins Guardian award

Petina Gappah has won the Guardian First Book award with her collection of short stories on Zimbabwe.

Reading the various reports and interviews in the Guardian I see that Gappah is doing her best to distance herself from the usual “naming” what I call the “Africa is a country” syndrome by Western publishers and critics. Refusing to be described as “the voice of Zimbabwe” “African writer” “Zimbabwean writer” she says….

“It’s very troubling to me because writing of a place is not the same as writing for a place,” she says. “If I write about Zimbabwe, it’s not the same as writing for Zimbabwe or for Zimbabweans. I have to remember that as much as there are many people unhappy with Robert Mugabe’s regime, there are many who are not: about 49% [of the electorate] voted for him.”

“I get irritated by the term ‘African writer’,” she says, “because it doesn’t mean anything to me. Africa is so big. There are some people who are happy to be African writers. They are pan-Africanists. I’m not a pan-Africanist. I think African countries have a lot in common. But we are also very different. I’m very happy to hang out with my friends from other African countries who are writers, but I don’t see myself as an African writer, because it comes with certain expectations of you.”

Thankfully Gappah sounds well grounded – there is no such thing as an “African” writer “Asian writer” or any other continent writer. See also Chinua Achebe “Father of modern African literature”

Petina Gappah has won the Guardian First Book award with her collection of short stories on Zimbabwe. Reading the various reports and interviews in the Guardian I see that Gappah is doing her best to distance herself from the usual "naming" what I call the "Africa is a country" syndrome by Western publishers and critics. Refusing to be described as "the voice of Zimbabwe" "African writer" "Zimbabwean writer" she says.... "It's very troubling to me because writing of a place is not the same as writing for a place," she says. "If I write about Zimbabwe, it's not the same as writing for Zimbabwe or for Zimbabweans. I have to remember that as much as there are many people unhappy with Robert Mugabe's regime, there are many who are not: about 49% [of the electorate] voted for him." "I get irritated by the term 'African writer'," she says, "because it doesn't mean anything to me. Africa is so big. There are some people who are happy to be African writers. They are pan-Africanists. I'm not a pan-Africanist. I think African countries have a lot in common. But we are also very different. I'm very happy to hang out with my friends from other African countries who are writers, but I don't see myself as an African writer, because it comes with certain expectations of you." Thankfully Gappah sounds well grounded - there is no such thing as an "African" writer "Asian writer" or any other continent writer. See also Chinua Achebe "Father of modern African literature"

Tagged as: African Women, Guardian First Book Award, Literature, Petina Gappah, Zimbabwe