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Harare North is a novel about illegal migrant life in London. Our unnamed narrator isn't your typical hero - he is a young, ex-militia who had to flee Zimbabwe to escape his old life. Although he claims political asylum from Mugabe's regime, he is actually a supporter of Mugabe, and he plans to use his time in London to make around US$5000, return to Zimbabwe and buy his way out of the trouble he is in. Once in London (Harare North), things aren't as easy as he hoped. He is constantly searching for 'graft' to raise money, ends up living with his childhood friend Shingi in a squat in Brixton with other immigrants, is constantly struggling to find food, is introduced to some interesting people (like Tsitisi who rents her baby to women who want to get council houses and Aleck who claims to be a Croydon shop assistant), and does some not-so-nice things all so he can make his US$5000. I found Harare North simultaneously sad and hilarious. The narrators situation is far from pretty but he always found humour in everything and found ways to go kak kak kak. 


The first thing that struck me when reading the novel was the language. It is mainly in pidgin (broken) English but it felt like Nigerian pidgin (I don't know if they speak pidgin the same way in Zimbabwe). As I read I also noted hints of Jamaican patois and cockney. I actually loved the fact that the book was written that way. I also loved Brian Chikwava's description of Britain's cold weather and particularly Brixton (Cold Harbour Lane, the market) - it felt like I was in Brixton. 

Harare North is a not-so-pretty book about the psychological pressures of an illegal immigrants life that I would recommend. Please don't be put off by the use of pidgin English (you get used to it after a while) and I think it's one of the many things that make this book. Thank you Brian Chikwava, for giving me yet another reason why I love literature from Zimbabwe :), but there's still one thing I am unsure of - and that is the narrators relationship with his friend, Shingi. 


4 out of 5 stars.
15:53 No Comments
Longer than a short story but shorter than a novel, the form has been the ugly stepchild of the literary world. 


The poor novella, it really has had such a bad reputation in literary circles - "unrecognised by academics and publishers", "the ugly duckling of the literary world" - but as this article in the Atlantic I recently read shows, things are starting to change. I know publishers shy away from the novella, I know it is neglected, and also undefined, but I actually love them and think it does have a place in literature. Some great African authors - Sembene Ousmane, Andre Brink, Doris Lessing - have all produced novellas and for me, there's that additional bonus of being able to read a book in a day or less in one sitting :). If you are interested in novellas in general then check out The Art of the Novella and Penguin's Mini-Modern Classics, but here are a few novellas written by African authors. 



                

The money-order with White genesis is a book containing two novellas. In The Money-Order, a man receives a money-order form a relative living in Paris and experiences bureaucratic incompetence and deceit, while the White Genesis tells the tragic tale of incest. Every Day is for The Thief is an account of a Nigerian returning home after many years in the States. The Grandmothers contains four novellas. In The Grandmothers, two childhood friends fall in love with each other's teenage sons, and these passions last for years, until the women end them, vowing a respectable old age. In Victoria and the Staveneys, a poor black woman has a child by a white man from a wealthy family, and she slowly begins to lose her child as she becomes part of this privileged world. The Reason for It traces the birth, faltering, and decline of an ancient culture. A Love Child features a World War II soldier who falls in love on shore leave and is convinced he fathered a child. In Becoming Abigail Abigail is brought as a teenager to London from Nigeria by relatives who attempt to force her into prostitution. Song for Night is the story of a West African boy soldier’s journey through the nightmare landscape of a brutal war in search of his lost platoon. Other Lives - a collection of three novellas - chronicles the lives of three interconnected men in contemporary South Africa. Murder for Profit, The Fatal Payout and Anything for Money all make up Lauri Kubuitsile's detective novellas. Eyes of the Slain Woman is a collection of three novellas exploring grief and the tenacity of human spirit. Adam & Luke, possibly the first gay novella, consists of two separate novellas. In Adam van Eden, the author draws on his personal experience within the church to highlight the damage inherent in fundamentalist condemnation, while According to Luke explores the disruption of a heterosexual marriage. 
09:54 No Comments

With the announcement of this years Commonwealth Writers Prize Shortlist, I wanted to know about the ones that got away. Just because they didn't win doesn't make them any less amazing. If I'm honest, I also wanted to know how far back I could go - if I could actually find all the shortlists from 1987 to 2011. I honestly have no idea if it will be possible to find them all, or how long it will take, but I like a challenge. I'm starting with the 2009-2011 shortlists  (is it considered cheating that I am starting with more recent years?). There were some amazing shortlisted books but I find it very interesting that majority were from Nigeria or South Africa. There is no doubt that Nigeria and South Africa produce some great literature, but what about the rest of Commonwealth Africa - where's Kenya, Uganda? Fair enough Sierra Leone won in 2011 and Ghana was shortlisted in 2010, but I do hope as I go back I might find more variety in terms of shortlisted countries. For now here are the 2009, 2010 and 2011 shortlists for the African region. 




21:40 No Comments
The shortlists for the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize and Commonwealth Short Story Prize were announced today. This replaces the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and Best First Book. Three African authors - Ellen Banda-Aaku (Zambia), Shelley Harris (South Africa), and Jacques Strauss (South Africa) are included in the shortlist for the book prize. For the short story prize five authors are included - Jekwu Anyaegbuna (Nigeria), Jayne Bauling (South Africa), Edyth Bulbring (South Africa), Khadija Magardie (South Africa), and Juno Bridget Pitt (South Africa). Writers from around the world have been shortlisted for each prize (I have only showcased the shortlisted African authors) and regional winners will be named May 22nd and the overall winners will be announced at the Hay Festival on June 8th.


The full shortlist can be found here.


20:57 2 Comments
A while back, my friend vieve, asked if she could see this ever-growing wish-list I'm always talking about. To which I replied, I don't have one (technically). I've got a few lying around everywhere. I've got my Amazon and goodreads wish-list, which I am constantly updating, wish-lists in my head, quite a few scribbled on paper, as well as some saved on my laptop and phone (for those times when I am paperless). If I'm honest, most of the books I highlight here (if I haven't read them) are also on my wish-list. The thing is my wish-list is embarrassingly long, as I'm kind of obsessed with books (isn't it obvious). I also have a secret wish (not so secret anymore) to own the entire AWS (I never said my wish-list was realistic). So here is a teeny glimpse at some of the novels I have been lusting after for a long time.  What would be on yours?




 
 



07:55 1 Comments
I know I shouldn't have favourites - I should probably love African literature equally - but there is something about Zimbabwean literature. Fair enough, I've only read a few books from there, but I have really enjoyed every one of them (plus I really want to have some sadza as it's in every book I've read so far). I am currently reading Brian Chikwava's Harare North, but I wanted to know more (I always do). 


A while back I highlighted a few books published by 'amabooks and I recently highlighted books published by Weaverpress, but here are a few more amazing works from Zimbabwe. As an English speaker I am only focusing on books written in English (sorry!), but I seriously need a fairy godmother or genie to grant my wish and buy me all the books on my ever-growing wish-list.


 



 
09:01 4 Comments
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About me

Founded in 2011, bookshy represents two things: the young me who was so shy I escaped through books, and the older me whose shelf is always one book shy of being full.

bookshy is a space where I celebrate, promote and recognise contemporary African literature - although sometimes I go back in time to commemorate the greats. It is about the books I love, the books I have read and the books that I am dying to read.

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      • Book Review: Brian Chikwava's 'Harare North'
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