Zukiswa Wanner

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Zukiswa Wanner (born July 30, 1976 in Lusaka , Zambia ) is a South African writer.

Life

Zukiswa Wanner's father comes from South Africa, her mother from today's Zimbabwe . Her parents were both politically active in Umkhonto we Sizwe and in the Zimbabwe African People's Union and were forced to live in exile for a long time. The family only moved there in 1980 when Zimbabwe gained independence. However, Zukiswa Wanner felt more like a South African and ten years later went to Johannesburg , where she lived with relatives. As a young adult, Zukiswa Wanner spent seven years abroad. She graduated from Hawaii Pacific UniversityJournalism, lived in England and toured Europe. When her father died in 2003, she returned to South Africa. At first she had difficulties in finding paid work and among other things worked as a volunteer in a facility for AIDS patients in Soweto . She later devoted herself entirely to writing and moved to Nairobi, Kenya in 2011 .

As an author, Zukiswa Wanner found inspiration in the culture of South Africa and, thanks to political developments, now had the opportunity to express herself critical of the government. She uses a very direct, reportage-like writing style in her works and uses various African languages ​​and sociolects as spoken in the respective social classes. In 2006 her debut novel The Madams was published, which is about three women friends in post- apartheid South Africa and was nominated for the South African Literary Award 2007 (Category K Sello Duiker Award). Her second novel Behind Every Successful Man (2008) was followed by Men of the South (2010), which is about three very different men who live in South Africa in a diary-like form. Men of the South received nominations for the Best Book Commonwealth Prize African Region, the Herman Charles Bosman Award, and the Creative Writing Prize from the University of Johannesburg . He was also shortlisted for the prestigious Sunday Times Fiction Prize . In 2014, Zukiswa Wanner's fourth novel, London, Cape Town, Joburg, was published by Kwela Books. It tells the story of a married couple who are confronted with their son's suicide.

Zukiswa Wanner has also published children's books: in 2012 initially Jama Loves Bananas and Refilwe (an African version of Rapunzel ) and in 2019 the non-fiction book Africa . In 2010 she brought out a photo book on Nelson Mandela with Alf Kumalo , published a collection of stories from Africa and Asia with Rohini Chowdhury (2012) and wrote articles for various magazines. She holds workshops for young writers and is the founder of the ReadSA organization, which tries to make African literature more popular with South African readers.

In 2018, Zukiswa Wanner published her autobiographical book Hardly working: a travel memoir of sorts , in which she reports on a trip through Africa and Europe that she took with her partner and son. She weaves memories from her own childhood into the plot.

2019 it was included in the anthology New Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby added.

In 2020, Wanner was awarded the Goethe Medal by the Goethe Institute, which honors special merits in teaching the German language and international cultural exchange.

Selected Works

  • The madams . Oshun Books, Johannesburg 2006
    • Paivapo, Nairobi, 2018
  • Behind Every Successful Man . Kwela, Roggebaai (Cape Town) 2007
  • Men of the South . Kwela, Roggebaai (Cape Town) 2010
  • Alf Kumalo , Zukiswa Wanner: 8115: A Prisoner's Home . Penguin Books , Johannesburg 2010
  • Jama Loves Bananas . Jacana, Johannesburg 2012
  • Refilwe . Jacana, Johannesburg 2012
  • Rohini Chowdhury, Zukiswa Wanner: Behind The Shadows. Contemporary Stories from Africa and Asia . 2012
  • London, Cape Town, Joburg . Kwela, Roggebaai (Cape Town) 2014
  • Hardly working: a travel memoir of sorts . Black Letter Media, Yeoville 2018
  • Africa . Children's Press. imprint of Scholastic Inc., New York 2019.

Awards

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Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zukiswa Wanner: How Zimbabwe and Kenya became one people. nation.co.ke on May 13, 2016, accessed October 1, 2019
  2. ↑ Goethe-Institut press release of April 28, 2020: Award ceremony on Goethe's birthday on August 28: Goethe Medal 2020 for Elvira Espejo Ayca, Ian McEwan and Zukiswa Wanner , accessed on April 28, 2020
  3. ^ GVK: bibliographical evidence .
  4. ↑ jisc: bibliographic evidence .
  5. ↑ jisc: bibliographic evidence .
  6. ↑ jisc: bibliographic evidence .
  7. ↑ jisc: bibliographic evidence .
  8. ↑ jisc: bibliographic evidence .
  9. ↑ Goethe Medal for the South African Zukiswa Wanner. August 28, 2020, accessed August 28, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Wanner, Zukiswa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Lusaka