Novelist Bryony Rheam on Winning Path

 Reproduced from the newsletter of the Writers International Network of Zimbabwe: 

WIN LITERARY NEWSLETTER, VOL 2, ISSUE 19, which celebrated the winning writers from the 2022 Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Awards.

by Beaven Tapureta

Bryony Rheam shows her recent accolade from the 2022 NAMA Awards.
Her second novel All Come To Dust won the Outstanding Fiction Book award.

  

EVERY writer dreams of success and success usually happens when one commits him/herself to art. Many writers have fallen by the wayside after their books failed them. No sales, no recognition, no reviews.

But while winning matters, one has to consider working hard with a heart of faith. Writing is an act of faith, so said someone.

For Bryony Rheam, recognition gauges the reader response for a book. And when a book keeps on winning, she says it shows that readers are connecting with the themes tackled. 

After her debut novel This September Sun (2009, AmaBooks) won the Best First Book at the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Awards in 2010, she was in 2014 winner of the International ‘Write Your Own Christie’ Competition, a competition dedicated to the international writer Agatha Christie whom Bryony has put on top of her favourite writers list.

“I have been an Agatha Christie fan for a very long time. I enjoy the books because the focus is on the mystery, not the murder. I like solving the puzzle. Modern crime writers focus more on the murder and enjoy lots of gory details, but the actual mystery is not that exciting,” said Bryony. 

This September Sun went on to be selected as set text for ZIMSEC Advanced Level Literature in English in Zimbabwe from 2012 to 2017.

WIN once published a comment by a literature student who said she remembers one day her teacher shed tears while reading to the class a touching passage in the novel. Indeed, such is the power of Bryony’s words as a story-teller.

All Come To Dust (2020, AmaBooks), her second and recent novel, has joined the winning streak.

Late last year it scooped a literary award at the Bulawayo Arts Awards and this February it won the Outstanding Fiction Award at the NAMA Awards.

Bryony told WIN how she feels about the overall success of her books.

“I feel both my novels have been successful, especially in Zimbabwe. Their success shows that readers are connecting with the issues they raise,” she said.

All Come To Dust is a crime thriller, falling in the class of another African novel Five Nights Before The Summit (2019, Weaver Press) by USA-based Zambian author Mukuka Chipanta.

There seems to be an attempt by writers to fill in the gap of crime fiction in English. For example, Sinister Motive by South Africa-based Zimbabwean emerging writer Wellington Mudhluri also uses the crime fiction genre which was once popular with Shona novelists of yore.

However, the use of various genres by Zimbabwean writers to speak about local issues is what Bryony applauds.

“I feel there is a need for Zimbabwean writers to explore different genres and use them as ways to reflect life in this country,” said Bryony.

Her words confirm what renowned writer NoViolet Bulawayo said last month in The New York Times: “We have to insist on imagining the worlds that we want to see.”  NoViolet was speaking about her new book Glory which one critic described as ‘a modern African Animal Farm’, meaning it explores a different ‘Animal Farm approach’ to highlight certain issues affecting Zimbabwe.

Truly, by using the imagination and exploring various forms of writing, writers can deal with issues troubling our motherland.

 (Read an interview with Bryony published in our previous issue, DOWN MEMORY LANE )