NoViolet Bulawayo is the pen name of Elizabeth Zandile Tshele (born 12 October 1981), 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 Mozam ...

an author. In 2012, the National Book Foundation named her a "5 under 35" honoree. She was named one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by ''

New African ''New African'' is an English-language monthly news magazine based in London. Published since 1966, it is read by many people across the African continent and the African diaspora. It claims to be the oldest pan-African monthly in English, as well ...

'' magazine in 2014. Her debut novel, ''

We Need New Names ''We Need New Names'' is the 2013 debut novel of expatriate Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo. A coming-of-age story, ''We Need New Names'' tells of the life of a young girl named Darling, first as a 10-year-old in Zimbabwe, navigating a world o ...

'', was shortlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize, and her second novel, '' Glory'', was shortlisted for the

2022 Booker Prize The 2022 Booker Prize was a literary award given for the best English novel of the year. It was announced on 17 October 2022, during a ceremony hosted by Sophie Duker at the Roundhouse in London. The longlist was announced on 26 July 2022. The s ...

, making her "the first Black African woman to appear on the Booker list twice".

Life

Bulawayo was born in

Tsholotsho Tsholotsho is a district in Matabeleland North province in Zimbabwe. Its administrative centre is at Tsholotsho business centre which is located about 98 km north-west of Bulawayo. Districts around Tsholotsho include Lupane, Hwange, Umguz ...

Zimbabwe, and attended Njube High School and later Mzilikazi High School for her A-levels. She completed her college education in the United States, studying at

Kalamazoo Valley Community College Kalamazoo Valley Community College is a public community college in Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo ...

, and earning bachelor's and master's degrees in English from

Texas A&M University-Commerce Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

and

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

, respectively.Elizabeth Tshele
Cornell University Department of English. Retrieved April 2012. In 2010, she completed a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

in creative writing at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where her work was recognized with a

Truman Capote Fellowship The Truman Capote Literary Trust is an American charitable trust established in 1994 by Truman Capote's literary executor, Alan U. Schwartz, pursuant to Capote's will. Origin Capote died in 1984 and his will established a lifetime annuity for his ...

. In 2011, she won the

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 ...

with her story "Hitting Budapest", which had been published in the November/December 2010 issue of the '' Boston Review'' and became the opening chapter of her 2013 debut novel. ''We Need New Names'' was included in the

2013 Man Booker Prize The 2013 Booker Prize for Fiction was awarded on 15 October 2013 to Eleanor Catton for her novel ''The Luminaries''. A longlist of thirteen titles was announced on 23 July, and these were narrowed down to a shortlist of six titles, announced on 10 S ...

shortlist, making Bulawayo the first black African woman and the first Zimbabwean to be shortlisted for the prize. She also won the

Etisalat Prize for Literature The 9mobile Prize for Literature (formerly the Etisalat Prize for Literature 2013–16) was created by Etisalat Nigeria in 2013, and is the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first-time African writers of published fiction books.

and the

Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway ...

, among other accolades. In 2011, it was reported that she had begun work on a memoir project. Bulawayo sat on the board of trustees of the pan-African literary initiative Writivism between 2014 and 2018. Published in 2022, her second novel '' Glory'' – inspired by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

'' and about a nation on the cusp of revolution – was written over more than three years, during which Bulawayo "closely followed the grass roots activism demanding change in countries including Sudan, Algeria, Uganda, Eswatini and the United States, where the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement surged." ''Glory'' was described by '' The Conversation'' as "unforgettable" and "an instant Zimbabwean classic". Reviewing the novel for ''The Guardian'',

Sarah Ladipo Manyika Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a British-Nigerian writer of novels, short stories and essays and an active member of the literary community, particularly supporting and amplifying young writers and female voices. She is author of two well received nove ...

concluded: "Bulawayo doesn't hold back in speaking truth to power. She writes urgently and courageously, holding up a mirror both to contemporary Zimbabwe and the world at large. Her fearless and innovative chronicling of politically repressive times calls to mind other great storytellers such as

Herta Müller Herta Müller (; born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Nițchidorf (german: Nitzkydorf, link=no), Timiș County in Romania, her native language is G ...

, Elif Shafak and Zimbabwean compatriot

Yvonne Vera Yvonne Vera (19 September 1964 – 7 April 2005) was an author from Zimbabwe. Her first published book was a collection of short stories, ''Why Don't You Carve Other Animals'' (1992), which was followed by five novels: ''Nehanda'' (1993), ''With ...

. Glory, with a flicker of hope at its end, is allegory, satire and fairytale rolled into one mighty punch." ''Glory'' was longlisted for the

Awards and honours

*2010:

*2011: Caine Prize for African Writing for the short story "Hitting Budapest" about a gang of street children in a

an shantytown. *2012-2014: Stegner Fellow at Stanford University"Announcing the 2012–2014 Stegner Fellowship Recipients"
, fro
"Wallace Stegner Fellowship"
Stanford University. Retrieved April 2012. *2013:

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

shortlist for ''We Need New Names'' *2013:

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

's "5 Under 35" chosen by a panel of past finalists and winners. Bulawayo was selected by Junot Díaz. *2013: Guardian First Book Award shortlist for ''We Need New Names'' *2013:

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

Discover Award finalist for ''We Need New Names'' *2013:

winner for ''We Need New Names'' *2013: ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, winner for ''We Need New Names''. *2014:

winner for ''We Need New Names'' *2014:

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the ...

winner for ''We Need New Names'' *2022:

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

shortlist for ''Glory''

Works

*2009: "Snapshots", published in ''New Writing from Africa 2009'' (

J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...

, ed.) *2010: "Hitting Budapest", published in '' Boston Review'' and ''The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011'' *2013: ''

'' *2022: '' Glory''

References

External links

NoViolet Bulawayo
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulawayo, NoViolet Mkha 1981 births 21st-century Zimbabwean women writers 21st-century Zimbabwean writers Alumni of Mzilikazi High School Caine Prize winners Cornell University alumni Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award winners Living people Southern Methodist University alumni Stegner Fellows Texas A&M University alumni Zimbabwean short story writers Zimbabwean women short story writers