Bryony's Blog

INTERVIEW – BRYONY RHEAM : « Africa is far, far behind in terms of care of the environment »        Bryony Rheam was born in Kadoma, Zimbabwe. Her first novel, This September Sun, was published by amaBooks in 2009. And she is currently living in Ndola, Zambia. Bryony Rheam.     Ake Review: Does African literature exist? Yes, I think there is a type of literature that would fall under this category, but some books are not always easy to categorise!  Perhaps it’s any novel where the perspective is an African one – the novel may be set in New York or Harare.  Unfortunately, categories tend to be quite limiting at times.  Labels suggest expectations.  For instance, I don’t like science fiction so I may not read a book found in this section of a book shop.  I am making a judgement based on my expectations of that genre.  However, my expectations are affected by what is probably a limited experince of this type of writing.  If I had seen the book in another section, I migh

Africa is a big place.   Really big.   When you fly over it, you get a sense of its immenseness; everything from cities to mile upon mile of open ground.   In turn, it is easy to feel very small and insignificant, a mere dot on the landscape.                 As a writer in Africa, it is also easy to feel a sense of that aloneness.   I live in a small mining town called Solwezi in north-western Zambia.   If there are any other writers here, I certainly have not met them and I am not sure how I would.   There are no writers’ groups advertised, no literary events take place - and no one seems to be particularly perturbed. After all, why should they be?   Writing is a solitary job, isn’t it?   It’s just you and your notepad or your laptop.   What else do you need?                 I am sure there are many writers who do write in isolation, either through circumstances or choice. The stereotypical writer is something of a recluse who refrains from talking about their work or giving