Brian Chikwava

Brain Chikwava is a Zimbabwean writer and musician. His short story "Seventh Street Alchemy" was awarded the 2004 Caine Prize for African writing in English; Chikwava became the first Zimbabwean to do so. He has been a Charles Pick fellow at the University of East Anglia, and lives in London. He continues to write in England and put out an album titled Jacaranda Skits. Quotes The day I first saw the dance was the day we had expected to end with the execution of my maternal grandfather.’ Quotes on the fig tree and the wasp My first short story was a hugely self-indulgent psychogeographic exploration of Harare. No one wanted to publish it, of course. So I told myself that the problem was the provincial Harare publishing scene, which was intent on thwarting a genius. Then a close friend, who had been supportive all along, read the piece and nearly fell off his chair laughing. Not a soul ever clapped their eyes on the piece after that. A walk around or through the park is usually a good start for me because it tends to be both meditative and cognitively stimulating. When things are not flowing the way I would like, a desperate, deranged run around the park sometimes unblocks things. And then caffeine, of course. Bracing black coffee and a tangerine. I have heard that a punch bag also works wonders, but have not yet been able to work that into my routine. I think I would be very happy as a milliner. I would love to see my creation transform someone. And of course, I would also love to make magnificent hats for myself, especially as it is usually the case that the hats that I like would ruin my finances. External links