Petina Gappah – Zimbabwean Writer at the SHFK
July 29th, 2009 | Published in Features, Storymoja Hay Festival 2009
Petina Gappah - Zimbabwean Author of Elegy of Easterly
Petina Gappah is a Zimbabwean writer who published her first book, the short story collection An Elegy for Easterly, in April of 2009. Described by one critic as “a mistress of crushing ironies and acerbic humor,” Gappah is one of the continent’s rising literary stars. An Elegy for Easterly, which was recently short-listed for the Frank O’Connor Award, brilliantly captures the sorrow and insanity of life in contemporary Zimbabwe. Gappah now lives in Geneva, where she serves as legal council for an NGO focusing on international trade issues. She is currently at work on her first novel.
Petina Gappah will be at the Storymoja Hay Festival Sessions described below:
Saturday 1st August, 2009 at 10am– 11:30am: French Writer François Devenne and American Writer Lee Siegel in conversation with Zimbabwean Writer Petina Gappah
The French author of “Three Dreams on Mt. Meru” and American author of “Love in a Dead Language,” among other books, have written books that reveal a fascination with cultures beyond their own. François Devenne’s book is about a Swahili boy from Mombasa who travels to Mt. Meru on an epic quest. Lee Siegel’s book, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, is about an American professor and translator of the Kama Sutra who falls in love with his Indian-American student. Writer Petina Gappah will discuss these books and the writers’ fascination with “the other.”
Sunday 2nd August, 2009 at 10am– 11:30am: Discussion between Joyce Nyairo and Petina Gappah
Sunday 2nd August, 2009 at 12 – 1:30pm: AFRICAN WOMEN WRITERS or the future of African writing: A conversation with Petina Gappah and Chika Unigwe moderated by Monica Arac
What is the future of African writing? The face of it is in young writers such as Petina Gappah from Zimbabwe, Chika Unigwe from Nigeria and Monica Arac from Uganda. Is it a coincidence that they all live away from their “homelands”? Do African women writers tell differently the myriad stories to be told? Do they face similar challenges as their male counterparts? How do these writers juggle motherhood, multiple careers and writing? Come listen to three writers hash out these issues and provoke us with new ones.
