It was one of those early mid-life crises, really. I started asking myself, 'What is it that I want from my life?' This question kept haunting me: 'Do I want to be a lawyer who always wanted to be a writer, or do I actually want to be a writer? Petina Gappah crisisearlyhaunt share on social
I don't want to write because I have to; I want to write because I want to. Sometimes, when writers write because they have to, the results are disastrous. Petina Gappah disastrousresultwrite Change image and share on social
I'm not even sure that I want to go back... The Zimbabwe that I really loved, the Zimbabwe that I grew up in, just isn't there anymore, and I'm not sure about the country that has replaced it. Petina Gappah anymorebackcountry Change image and share on social
Zimbabweans, I've come to believe, we are very passive-aggressive people. We don't like conflict; we don't like confrontation, so we find all sorts of ways of avoiding that conflict and confrontation. We are not allowed to talk about bad things that go on in families. Petina Gappah aggressiveallowavoid share on social
A novelist, poet and playwright who writes equally well in Shona and English, Charles Mungoshi is Zimbabwe's finest and most versatile writer. His life project has been to interrogate the notion of family. Petina Gappah charleenglishequally share on social
Only al-Jazeera is allowed to report from Zimbabwe, but it is unwatchable. Their Zimbabwean reporter Supa Mandiwanzira was one of Zanu-PF's praise-singers at the reviled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. Petina Gappah allowbroadcastcorporation share on social
Zimbabwe is an unusual case study in African colonialism in that it was invaded by a private company under Royal Charter. Petina Gappah africancasecharter Change image and share on social
What we are trying to do now, this new generation of African writers, is to write about what it is to be a human being living in a particular African country. These are stories that resonate with anyone, anywhere. Petina Gappah africancountrygeneration share on social
These are the kinds of names that Zimbabweans like: names that have positive qualities. Like, Praise is a very popular name; Loveness is a very popular name. Petina Gappah kindlovenessname Change image and share on social
I actually don't sleep much; I only need about four hours a night. Petina Gappah hournightsleep Change image and share on social
