Harare North by Brian Chikwava

In an astonishing, revelatory original debut, Caine Prize for African Writing winner Brian Chikwava tackles head-on the realities of life as a refugee
When he lands in Harare North, our unnamed protagonist carries nothing but a cardboard suitcase full of memories and an email address for his childhood friend, Shingi. Finessing his way through immigration, he spends a few restless weeks as the very unwelcome guest in his cousin’s home before tracking down Shingi in a squat. This shocking, powerful first novel is the story of a stranger in a strange land—one of the thousands of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants seeking a better life—with a past he is determined to hide. From the first line, the language fizzes with energy, humour, and not a little menace. As he struggles to make his life in London (the “Harare North” of the title) and battles with the weight of what he has left behind in a strife-torn Zimbabwe, every expectation and preconception is turned on its head. The inhabitants of the squat function at various levels of desperation: Shingi struggles to find meaningful work and to meet the demands of his family back home; Tsitsi makes a living renting out her baby to women defrauding Social Services; Alex claims to have an important job in Croydon. Fearlessly political, laugh-out-loud funny, and with an anti-hero whose voice is impossible to forget, this novel is an arresting account of London as it is experienced by Africa’s dispossessed.

About the Author
Brian Chikwava (1972– ) is a Zimbabwean writer, journalist, and musician currently living and working in London. He is the author of the Caine Prize-winning short story ‘Seventh Street Alchemy’ (2003), and the Orwell Prize-shortlisted novel Harare North (2009). Born in Victoria Falls, Chikwava graduated from the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo in 1996, before moving to Bristol, UK, to study Civil Engineering. Citing a lack of the technical knowledge required to express himself architecturally, Chikwava found a creative outlet in writing short stories. Since graduating from Bristol in 2000, he has worked as an editor and a lecturer while writing his fiction, and currently writes for Wasafiri. He lives in Crystal Palace, London.

Other Books by the Author
Seventh Street Alchemy