Bryony Rheam @ The Book Cafe in Harare

On Thursday evening, 27 May at 5.30pm, Harare’s Book Café will be holding a literary discussion on the book ‘This September Sun’ - a debut novel by Zimbabwean writer Bryony Rheam, published by ’amaBooks of Bulawayo.

The book was reviewed in the Zimbabwean weekly The Standard on 01 May as ‘a new refreshing breeze that offers an incisive insight into the Rhodesian and, later, Zimbabwean psyche’ by Francis Mungana, a lecturer in the Department of English at Midlands State University, and described by Zimbabwean writer Christopher Mlalazi as ’beautifully executed’. A review in the Warwick Times (UK) by Middlesex University lecturer James Graham says ‘Bryony Rheam takes a bold but necessary step toward exorcising the ghost of Rhodesia from the house of Zimbabwean letters.’

Born in Kadoma, Bryony Rheam is a teacher and graduate of the British Council writing program Crossing Borders, a cross-cultural distance learning scheme which linked young African writers with experienced UK mentors to develop their work. The ‘This September Sun’ discussion is supported by Pamberi Trust and The British Council.

At the Thursday 27 May discussion the author will give a short reading from the book, and presentations by speakers Francis Mungana and Eresinah Hwede of Zimbabwe Women Writers, will be followed by open discussion.

Pamberi Trust projects officer Extra–Blessings Kuchera who is organizing the discussion, said “We look forward to welcoming Bryony Rheam to The Book Café on Thursday 27 May - the discussion is free and all people are welcome. Literature in Zimbabwe is sometimes less prominent in the public eye, whereas it is equally important as the other artistic disciplines. A lot of people support literature but only in their backyards or bedrooms - this is a platform for those who love literature to come together, discuss, explore, develop and support it” he said.