Petina Gappah

For the first years of my life, I went to school in Rhodesia. My memory of living in the townships is that they were actually really happy places.

People always ask me how I manage to find humor in so much bleakness. I think this is almost a necessary skill to have.

I speak English. I dream in it. I cannot separate my English from my Shona; I see the world with those two languages.