Bryony Rheam wins the Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Award for Outstanding Fiction

The Zimbabwean writer Bryony Rheam has added to her list of accolades by being awarded the Zimbabwean National Arts Merit Award in the category Outstanding Fiction. The award is for her novel All Come to Dust, which was initially published in Zimbabwe before being co-published by Parthian Books and amaBooks in the UK. The National Arts Merit Awards are the premier award given by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe in recognition of outstanding achievements in the arts and culture. The inaugural award ceremony was held in February 2002. Since then, the award ceremonies have been held in February each year to recognise artists who had excelled in the previous year. The exception is this year's awards, which, because of Covid 19 restrictions, considered the work of artists from the previous two years.

All Come to Dust  was previously recognised in November 2021 by winning the Bulawayo Arts Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Fiction). 

Her novel, in which Detective Chief Inspector Edmund Dube investigates the suspicious death of socialite Marcia Pullman with the assistance of the ‘mullet hairstyled’ Craig Martin, can be considered a long-simmering, intriguing, twisting murder mystery. But it is also an incisive depiction of life in present-day  Bulawayo and of how the injustice and privilege of the past are still baked into everyday life.

Bryony Rheam commented: 

'I'm delighted that All Come to Dust is doing so well. Winning these two Zimbabwean awards is a reflection of the fact that local readers can identify with the plot and the issues it raises. It is a great honour to be recognised in my own country and this gives me the impetus to carry on. 

However, the book is not confined to Zimbabwean readers. I have been heartened by the number of reviewers and other readers who have said that they learned something about Zimbabwe and its history through reading the book. I believe that place and time affect the feel of a book, but characters are generally universal and they are what interests readers most. I didn't initially intend to write another crime novel, but now I see it as an interesting way to explore society. The African crime novel is different to the Western one for a number of reasons and I think that makes it quite an exciting genre to be exploring right now.'

All Come to Dust shortlisted for the Outstanding Fiction Book category of the Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Awards

 

Following her success at the Bulawayo Arts Awards for Outstanding Literary Work: Fiction, congratulations to Bryony Rheam for her novel All Come to Dust being selected by the adjudicators of the Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Awards as one of the three nominees for Outstanding Fiction Book for the two year period 2020 and 2021.

Congratulations to the other shortlisted writers in this category:  

 Leroy Mthulisi Ndlovu for Sirens:Tales of Youth and Love and Abraham Makamera for Mboni.

Where to Now? nominated for NAMA

Where to Now? Short Stories from Zimbabwe has been nominated in the Outstanding Fiction Book category for the National Arts Merit Awards 2012.

The winner will be announced on February 18 at the awards ceremony at the 7 Arts Theatre in Harare.

Where to Now? contains short stories from 16 Zimbabwean writers: Raisedon Baya, NoViolet Bulawayo, Diana Charsley, Clement Chihota, Murenga Joseph Chikowero, John Eppel, Fungai Rufaro Machirori, Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende, Christopher Mlalazi, Mzana Mthimkhulu, Blessing Musariri, Nyevero Muza, Thabisani Ndlovu, Bryony Rheam, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma and Sandisile Tshuma.

'Election Day' nominated for 3 NAMA Awards

Christopher Mlalazi's play Election Day has been nominated for three awards at the 2011 Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Awards. The play is an adaptation of the short story of the same name that was published in Chris' Dancing with Life: Tales from the Township, published by 'amaBooks in 2008. Dancing with Life won the NAMA for Best First Published Creative Work in 2009 and was given an Honourable Mention at the 2009 Noma Awards for African Publishing.

The three nominations are for Outstanding Actress (Privilege Mutendera), Outstanding Actor (Teddy Mangava) and Outstanding Theatre Production (Eunice Ratidzo Tava). The winners will be announced on February 17.

Election Day had its premier at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) 2010 and subsequently ran at Theatre in the Park in Harare. There are plans under way to adapt the play into a short film with Byron Locker in South Africa.