Conversations with Writers

Poet and novelist Gisela Hoyle was born in Barkly-West, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. She attended Kimberley Girls High School and graduated with an MA in English from Rhodes University. She taught at Rhodes University and then at various schools in South Africa. Currently, she lives and works in the UK. The White Kudu (Picnic Publishing, 2010) is her first novel. In this interview, Gisela Hoyle talks about her writing: When did you start writing? I have been writing since I was a child -- mostly poetry and mostly for occasions in the family or at school (I am a teacher). I decided to get published about 18 months ago now -- because I had written my first complete novel, The White Kudu . I took my manuscript to a Writers’ Clinic, where it was positively received, and I got some good advice on how to approach publishers; which I did. How would you describe your writing? Well I don’t think I’m a genre writer. I just write and let other people put it into categories. The White Ku...

Zimbabwean writer, academic and civil rights activist, Zvisinei Sandi teaches on politics and literature in Southern Africa at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. She has also worked as a journalist and was secretary general of the human rights watchdog, the Society for Gender Justice. Some of her short stories have been published in anthologies that include Creatures, Great and Small (Mambo Press, 2005) and Women Writing Zimbabwe (Weaver Press, 2008). In this interview, Zvisinei Sandi talks about her writing. When did you start writing? I started out as a very little child, at about six, seven years old. I used to make plays about my parents and friends and the colorful years back then -- the last days of Zimbabwe’s liberation war, the Cease Fire, the Assembly Points and the changes in lifestyle for everyone. When did decide you wanted to be a published writer? Very early really, in high school, although my parents fought ...

Poet and author, Karl Stuart Kline is a past president of Epilepsy Concern, a coalition of self-help groups; a past president of the Greater Miami Avicultural Society and a lifetime honorary member of the Florida Sheriff’s Association . He made his debut as an author in 2004 with the publication of Poison Pearls , an 88-paged collection of poetry and prose which explores issues that include forced labor, modern-day slavery, human trafficking and prostitution. He followed this up with Going Without Peggy (PublishAmerica, 2005), another collection of poetry and prose about his marriage of 17 years and the bond that existed between him and his first wife, Peggy; her struggle with breast cancer and the effect her death had on him. His latest book, Brain Stemmed Roses (PublishAmerica, 2006) is also a collection of poetry and prose and includes some of his early work from the 60s and 70s as well as poetry about romance and friendship in Eastern Europe and a section dedicated to his ...

Rory Kilalea has worked in the Middle East and throughout Africa, directing documentaries as well as in various production, script-writing and management positions. Films he has been involved with include Jit (1990); A Dry White Season (1987) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986). He has also taught broadcasting, writing and performance at the University of Zimbabwe as well as improvisational drama at the British Council in Athens, London, Johannesburg, and in the Middle East. Writing under the pen-name, Murungu, his poetry and short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies in countries that range from Ireland; Malaysia; South Africa; the United Kingdom; the United States and Zimbabwe. His writing includes the collection of short stories, The Arabian Princess & Other Stories (Zodiac Publishing, 2002); “Whine of a Dog” which was shortlisted for the Caine Prize 2000; “Zimbabwe Boy” which appears in Asylum 1928 and Other Stories (Fish Publish...

Kay Green's stories have been appearing in literary magazines and journals and for nearly two decades. Fifteen of the short stories appear in Jung's People (2004), her first collection of short stories, while others have been featured in anthologies that include The Elastic Book of Numbers (2005). Her poetry has been published in literary journals such as acumen , Iota , Envoi and Orbis . In addition to writing, Green has edited anthologies that include Digitally Organic: An Earlyworks Press Poetry Anthology (2007); Porkies: Pigtales of the Unexpected (2006); Survival Guides: An Earlyworks Press Fiction Anthology (2006); Routemasters and Mushrooms: An Earlyworks Press Poetry Anthology (2006); and The Sleepless Sands: Earlyworks Press High Fantasy Challenge (2006). In a recent interview, Kay Green spoke about her writing. Your first collection of short stories, Jung’s People , was published by Elastic Press in 2004. How did this happen? Fantasy and mythology ar...

In addition to writing short stories, John Eppel is also an award-winning poet and novelist . His list of achievements is impressive. His first novel, D.G.G. Berry’s The Great North Road (1992), won the M-Net Prize in South Africa. His second novel, Hatchings (1993), was short-listed for the M-Net Prize and his third novel, The Giraffe Man (1994), has been translated into French. His first poetry collection, Spoils of War (1989), won the Ingrid Jonker Prize. Other poems have been featured in anthologies that include The Heart in Exile South African Poetry in English 1990-1995 (1996) while his short stories have appeared in anthologies that include Writing Now: More Stories from Zimbabwe (2005). In a recent email interview, John Eppel spoke about his writing. When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? About age 12. Around that time I stopped believing in God, I became consciously aware of my mortality, I began to feel uneasy about my privileged status as a white b...

I’ve taken a leaf off George Bernard Shaw ’s book and have written a very long introduction to my work in progress, the Diary of an Asylum Seeker . The introduction is really a ‘back story’ in that it shows part of how the Diary came about; it shows part of how I’ve been working on the Diary and it shows part of the reception the Diary has received so far. I started working on what is becoming the Diary of an Asylum Seeker in late 2004 or early 2005 after coming into contact with the Assist Service, a medical practice which provides specialized primary health care for asylum seekers in Leicester . There, one of the people I was and still am in dialogue with is Jan Moore, the practice therapist, who suggested that I keep a diary. Which I did. For about a week or two. I wish I’d kept the diary more religiously. I wish I’d kept it like medicine. I didn’t. I tell myself that the reason for this was because, soon afterwards, I started writing a lot about asylum seekers, about who they a...

Valerie Tagwira is a Zimbabwean medical doctor, an author and a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Her debut novel, The Uncertainty of Hope is set in the densely populated suburb of Mbare, Harare, and explores the complex lives of Onai Moyo -- a market woman and mother of three children -- and her best friend, Katy Nguni -- a vendor and black-market currency dealer. The novel gives an insight into the challenges faced by a wide cross section of Zimbabwe, where life expectancy has dropped to 37, possibly the lowest in the world. In 2005, Operation Murambatsvina , the government's controversial urban slum clearance program, created over half a million internally displaced persons and destroyed the livelihoods of close to 10 percent of the population. Eighty percent of the country's population is unemployed. In this interview, Valerie Tagwira talks about the concerns that influenced her novel: What would you say The Uncertainty of Hope is ab...