Bryony's Blog

    I am often asked by friends and family who don't live in Zimbabwe why we still stay here. It is not a question that is easily answered, except to say why does anyone live anywhere?  We all have things to complain about wherever we are in the world.  Those who don't experience power or water cuts will complain about traffic jams or the weather.  Nowhere is perfect. Recently, I wrote on Facebook how excited we were when the electricity, that had been off for nine days, came back on.  It was actually longer as we had had nearly a week prior to this of being one phase down, so we had no lights, but some sockets worked and half of the stove as well. Nine days is by no means a long time at all to go without electricity, and nor is two weeks.  Some people I know have gone without for three to six months, a year even.  I am sure there are those on my Facebook page who even wonder why I mention it at all. Surely this is to be expected when you live in ...

 Today would have been my mother’s 77 th birthday.  It is nearly three years since she died and these occasions do not get any easier to deal with in terms of the loss felt, but I have to come to a point where I see them as days to celebrate her life, rather than mourn her passing. My mum was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she was given the all clear in 2000.   However, in 2012, the cancer returned, this time spreading into bone cancer.   After nearly a year of treatment, my mum was told she could, with healthy food and a positive attitude, live five good years. It was a diagnosis that, looking back, we did not pay enough attention to.   Somehow, not only she, but all of us, felt that it was something she could overcome, for, after all, she had done it before.   We forgot she was younger when she fought the first battle against cancer, and her circumstances were different. My dad was working and th...

Thursday, February 28, 2019 (originally published on amaBooks' blog) Al-Arabi publisher Sherif Bakr looks back on this year's Cairo International Book Fair and Bryony Rheam's This September Sun Sherif Bakr For over 40 years, Al-Arabi Publishing and Distributing has exhibited at the Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), with titles mainly in politics and mass media. For the past decade, however, it is translated titles, mostly fiction, that have attracted readers to this particular publishing house. According to Al-Arabi publisher Sherif Bakr, this was a good year, with book fair visitors showing a true interest in learning more about the world. “We did well; our new titles of translated novels and books in general were very well received with people being very happy to go through piles of books that bring to them ideas from Finland, Serbia, Austria, Zimbabwe and many other countries,” Bakr said. The Al Arabi September Suns On...

I was interviewed for this edition of Soul Music. Things have been so unsettled recently, it was nice to be reminded of long, sunny afternoons, even if the shadows did come in later. This classic tune was written by Charlie Chaplin for the film Modern Times. About this website bbc.co.uk BBC Radio 4 - Soul Music, Series 27, Smile This classic tune was written by Charlie Chaplin for the film Modern Times. This classic tune was written by Charlie

The Arabic version of This September Sun is officially in print.

My article on Hubbard's Historical Tours, published in Footprints Magazine.

Happy that my article on the beautiful Matopos huts made the front cover of the latest edition of Nzira. Thank you to Pathisa Nyathi for his invaluable help with the research.