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 )

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.

'Textures' wins the 2016 National Arts Merit Award for Outstanding Fiction

John Eppel and Togara Muzanenhamo's poetry collaboration Textures has won the 2016 Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Award for Outstanding Fiction. The winners were announced at the awards on Saturday 13 February at 7Arts in Harare, and Togara was present to accept the award on behalf of the two writers. 

The other shortlisted books were:
Dzinonyandura coordinated by Rabson Shumba [263 Nhetembo] 
Ties that Bind by Phillip K. Chidavaenzi [New Heritage Press] 
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah [Faber and Faber]

The list of winners in all categories can be found at http://newsvyb.com/here-are-your-2016-nama-winners/

'Textures' nominated for a 2016 National Arts Merit Award

John Eppel and Togara Muzanenhamo's poetry collaboration Textures has been nominated for a 2016 Zimbabwe National Arts Merit Award, in the Outstanding Fiction category.


The other shortlisted books are:
Dzinonyandura coordinated by Rabson Shumba [263 Nhetembo] 
Ties that Bind by Phillip K. Chidavaenzi [New Heritage Press] 
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah [Faber and Faber]


This is the second recent shortlisting for Togara Muzanenhamo. His collection Gumiguru was one of the three books shortlisted for the 2016 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry; the prize eventually being awarded to South African poet Kobus Moolman for his collection A Book of Rooms.




Click here to hear Togara Muzanenhamo reading 'Gondershe' from Textures, accompanied by Leo Svirsky on accordion. Thanks to: Rick Messemaker (camera), Rumbi Katedza (editor), De Niewe Ruimte, A View with a Room and Poetry International.


Other readings by Togara Muzanenhamo from Textures include Mercantile Rain  and The Art of Man.

Readings by John Eppel from Textures include A Suburban Night in August  and Only Jacarandas.