Brian Chikwava is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

an writer and musician. His short story "Seventh Street Alchemy" was awarded the 2004

Caine Prize The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 20 ...

for African writing in English; Chikwava became the first Zimbabwean to do so. He has been a Charles Pick fellow at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

, and lives in London. He continues to write in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and put out an album titled ''Jacaranda Skits''.

Background

Brian Chikwava was born in

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Victoria Falls, popularly known as Vic Falls, is a resort town and city in the province of Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. It lies on the southern bank of the Zambezi River at the western end of Victoria Falls themselves. According to the 2022 Po ...

, in 1971. He went to boarding-school in Bulawayo, going on to study civil engineering at Bristol University.Olivia Laing
"'The book will be published in Zimbabwe ... no one will buy it': The novelist: Brian Chikwava"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', 4 January 2009. He settled in London in 2004.

Writing

Chikwava won the fifth

Caine Prize for African Writing The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 20 ...

in 2004 with his short story "Seventh Street Alchemy" (which was published in ''Writing Still'', Weaver Press, Harare, 2003),"2004 Caine Prize Winner Announced"
Bellagio Publishing Network, 19 July 2004. the first Zimbabwean to win the prize. Making the award, the chair of the judges, Alvaro Ribeiro, described the story as: "A very strong narrative in which Brian Chikwava of Zimbabwe claims the English language as his own, and English with African characteristics.... A triumph for the long tradition of Zimbabwe writing in the face of Zimbabwe’s uncertain future!" His first novel '' Harare North'' was published in 2009 through Jonathan Cape. Reviews were generally positive, with Mary Fitzgerald of the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

'' writing that "in bringing to life the plight of those often marginalised by mainstream society, hikwavahas opened up a bleak, yet urgently important, social landscape". She also praises his "wit and suggestiveness", something that Tod Wodicka, author of ''All Shall Be Well'', agrees with, writing that "page by page, line by line, hikwavahas created a perfectly original and true narrative voice...full of surprises, delicious little tics, and real fire-in-the-belly creativity...but importantly, the voice comes off as effortless, and therefore true… it’s a major accomplishment". Trevor Lewis of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' wrote that "Chikwava has created a compelling protagonist, whose back-to-front English and spiky argot throw up sly, acidly comic observations", while Margaret Busby wrote in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'': "Chikwava has the talent to find lightness and comedy in the darkest desperation, drawing humour even out of wretchedness...occasionally among novelists one comes across a voice so distinctive...that it grips in an unforgettable way. For me, Chikwava looks set to be in that category. From first page to last, the vernacular narrative of Harare North is arresting, haunting, exciting, funny." Speaking about

and the reception he believed his book would receive, Chikwava said: "the Zimbabwe I knew no longer exists. The book will be published there but no one will buy it. No one buys books now. They are no longer a priority". He also took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project '' Sixty Six Books'' for which he wrote a piece based upon a book of the King James BibleBush Theatre

References

External links

"Brian Chikwava's top ten works by writers who had a score to settle with society"
''The Guardian'', 2 September 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chikwava, Brian Zimbabwean writers Zimbabwean musicians Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom Living people Caine Prize winners 21st-century novelists Year of birth missing (living people)

Background

Writing

References

Further reading

External links