The Sunday News
Bhekumuzi Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
ONE of Zimbabwe’s top female wordsmiths who has braved against prejudiced views of male chauvinism and well acclaimed of her debut novel We Need New Names (2013), NoViolet Bulawayo was recently saluted with a Gina Berriault Award for Fiction by the San Francisco University in the United States of America.
Brought by the university’s department of creative writing and the long-lived university literary journal Fourteen Hills, the gong is awarded annually and was named after Gina Berriault, an American writer who showed creativity in storytelling and commitment to emerging writers.
NoViolet, who teaches at the San Francisco University, said she was humbled to receive such a precious award.
“I am deeply honoured to receive the Gina Berriault Award for Fiction by San Francisco State University Department of Creative Writing. Currently, I hope to read a bit from my new favourite book, America Is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo,” she said.
NOViolet has really raised the Zimbabwean flag high. Her debut novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Guardian First Book Award, New York Times Notable Books of 2013 list and nominated an Etisalat Prize for Literature award which was the first Pan-African literary prize created to recognise and reward debut fiction writers in Africa.
She has been lauded by top Zimbabwean writers in the past which includes the likes of Raisedon Baya, Virginia Phiri and Christopher Mlalazi. In America, Bulawayo has had enough praise from the media and renowned writers. A Dominican American writer and creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology described NoViolet as an amazing writer whom he always knew would conquer the world with her writing.
“I knew this writer was going to blow up. Her honesty, her voice, her formidable command of her craft, all were apparent from the first page, but it’s only when you reach the haunting conclusion of Hitting Budapest that you realise just how tremendously talented NoViolet is,” he said.
Michiko Kakutani, an American literary critic and former chief book critic for The New York Times, said after reading We Need New Names, she knew that NoViolet was destined for greatness.
“Her voice is utterly distinctive; by turns unsparing and lyrical, unsentimental and poetic, spiky and meditative. Stunning novel and a remarkably talented author,” she said.
The likes of Helon Habila who is a Nigerian novelist and Oprah Winfrey who is an American talk show host, have both also lauded the works of the thriving Zimbabwean writer. NoViolet Bulawayo is living up to her surname in the USA as she is truly representing the city of royalty—portraying it as a land full of extraordinary talents. -@NcubeBhekumuzi
