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NoViolet Bulawayo

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NoViolet Bulawayo
BornElizabeth Zandile Tshele
(1981-12-10) 10 December 1981 (age 42)
Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe
LanguageEnglish
EducationNjube High School;
Mzilikazi High School
Alma materTexas A&M University-Commerce (BA)
Southern Methodist University (MA)
Cornell University (MFA)
GenreShort story; novel
Notable worksWe Need New Names (2013); Glory (2022)
Notable awardsCaine Prize for African Writing; Man Booker Prize shortlist
Website
novioletbulawayo.com

NoViolet Bulawayo is the pen name of Elizabeth Zandile Tshele (born 12 October 1981), a Zimbabwean author.[1] In 2012, the National Book Foundation named her a "5 under 35" honoree.[2] She was named one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2014.[3] Her debut novel, We Need New Names, was shortlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize, and her second novel, Glory, was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, making her "the first Black African woman to appear on the Booker list twice".[4][5]

Life

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Bulawayo was born in Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe, and attended Njube High School and later Mzilikazi High School for her A-levels.[6] She completed her college education in the United States, studying at Kalamazoo Valley Community College,[7] and earning bachelor's and master's degrees in English from Texas A&M University-Commerce and Southern Methodist University, respectively.[8] In 2010, she completed a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Cornell University, where her work was recognized with a Truman Capote Fellowship.[8]

In 2011, she won the Caine Prize with her story "Hitting Budapest",[9] which had been published in the November/December 2010 issue of the Boston Review[10] and became the opening chapter of her 2013 debut novel.[11][12][13] We Need New Names was included in the 2013 Man Booker Prize shortlist,[14][15] making Bulawayo the first black African woman and the first Zimbabwean to be shortlisted for the prize.[16] She also won the Etisalat Prize for Literature[17] and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award,[18][19] among other accolades.

In 2011, it was reported that she had begun work on a memoir project.[20] Bulawayo sat on the board of trustees of the pan-African literary initiative Writivism between 2014 and 2018.[citation needed]

Published in 2022, her second novel Glory – inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm 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 movement surged."[21] Glory was described by The Conversation as "unforgettable" and "an instant Zimbabwean classic".[22] Reviewing the novel for The Guardian, Sarah Ladipo Manyika 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, Elif Shafak and Zimbabwean compatriot Yvonne Vera. Glory, with a flicker of hope at its end, is allegory, satire and fairytale rolled into one mighty punch."[23] Glory was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize[5][24] and longlisted for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction.[25]

Pen name

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NoViolet Bulawayo's pen name is derived from the Ndebele word for 'with', the name of her late mother and the city of Bulawayo.[26]

Awards and honours

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Works

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References

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  1. ^ Zvomuya, Percy (23 July 2013). "NoViolet Bulawayo makes Man Booker Prize longlist". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Discover the 5 Under 35 Honorees", National Book Foundation, 2013.
  3. ^ newsday (5 December 2014). "Trevor Ncube among most influential persons in Africa". NewsDay Zimbabwe. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  4. ^ Ibeh, Chukwuebuka (29 July 2022). "Noviolet Bulawayo's Glory, a Zimbabwean Masterpiece, Longlisted for 2022 Booker Prize". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Zimbabwe's NoViolet Bulawayo makes Booker Prize shortlist with 'Glory'". Bulawayo24 News. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  6. ^ Manhango, Simba (23 July 2011). "Hard work, passion the special ingredients for success: author". The Standard. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  7. ^ Liberty, John (23 July 2013). "Author, KVCC graduate NoViolet Bulawayo named to prestigious Man Booker long list". MLive Media Group.
  8. ^ a b c Elizabeth Tshele, Cornell University Department of English. Retrieved April 2012.
  9. ^ Busby, Margaret, "We Need New Names, By NoViolet Bulawayo", The Independent, 7 June 2013.
  10. ^ Waxman, Simon (6 June 2013), "Congratulations, NoViolet Bulawayo", Boston Review.
  11. ^ "We Need New Names – NoViolet Bulawayo" at Book Excerptise.
  12. ^ Davis, Kristy. "9 Must-Read Books for June 2013 | We Need New Names: A Novel". Oprah.com.
  13. ^ Habila, Helon, "We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo – review", The Guardian, 20 June 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Shortlist 2013 announced". Man Booker Prize. 10 September 2013.
  15. ^ Driscoll, Molly (July 23, 2013). "Man Booker Prize long list includes writers Colum McCann, Tash Aw". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  16. ^ "First black African woman nominated for Booker Prize" AFP, 10 September 2013.
  17. ^ Ben (23 February 2014). "NoViolet Bulawayo Wins the Inaugural Etisalat Prize for Literature". Books Live. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  18. ^ Allan Kozinn (17 March 2014). "Writer From Zimbabwe Wins PEN/Hemingway Award for First Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  19. ^ Zipp, Yvonne (18 March 2014). "NoViolet Bulawayo wins prestigious Hemingway/PEN award". MLive.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  20. ^ "Zimbabwean, NoViolet Bulawayo's 'Hitting Budapest' takes the 12th Caine Prize". Bulawayo 24. 12 July 2011.
  21. ^ Dahir, Abdi Latif (2 March 2022). "NoViolet Bulawayo Believes Freedom Begins With Imagination". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Mushakavanhu, Tinashe (27 July 2022). "NoViolet Bulawayo's new novel is an instant Zimbabwean classic". The Conversation. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  23. ^ Manyika, Sarah Ladipo (23 March 2022). "Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo review – a Zimbabwean Animal Farm". The Guardian.
  24. ^ a b "Glory | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  25. ^ a b Knight, Lucy. "Maggie O'Farrell and NoViolet Bulawayo make Women's prize for fiction longlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  26. ^ Clark, Alex. "NoViolet Bulawayo: 'I'm encouraged by this new generation that wants better'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  27. ^ "NoViolet Bulawayo wins 12th Caine Prize for African Writing" Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Caine Prize for African Writing.
  28. ^ Sophy (11 July 2011), "NoViolet Bulawayo wins the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing for 'Hitting Budapest'", Books Live – Sunday Times.
  29. ^ Flood, Alison (12 July 2011). "NoViolet Bulawayo wins 'African Booker'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  30. ^ "Announcing the 2012–2014 Stegner Fellowship Recipients" Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, from "Wallace Stegner Fellowship", Stanford University. Retrieved April 2012.
  31. ^ Fleischaker, Julia (13 September 2013). "Women dominate the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 list". Melville House Books. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  32. ^ "We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo". The Guardian. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  33. ^ "2013 Discover Awards". Barnes & Noble. 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  34. ^ "Etisalat Prize for Literature Announces 2013 Shortlist". Etisalat Prize. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  35. ^ Ben (23 February 2014). "NoViolet Bulawayo Wins the Inaugural Etisalat Prize for Literature". Books Live. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  36. ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (11 April 2014). "Jacket Copy: The winners of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes are ..." LA Times. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  37. ^ Allan Kozinn (17 March 2014). "Writer From Zimbabwe Wins PEN/Hemingway Award for First Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  38. ^ Zipp, Yvonne (18 March 2014). "NoViolet Bulawayo wins prestigious Hemingway/PEN award". MLive.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  39. ^ "Past Winners of the Betty Trask Prize and Awards". The Society of Authors.
  40. ^ NoViolet Bulawayo (November–December 2010). "Hitting Budapest". Boston Review. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
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