Zukiswa Wanner is a South African journalist and novelist, born in Zambia and now based in Kenya . She is the author of Men of the South, The Madams and London Capetown Joburg amongst others.
1. Favourite book ever – This changes by the day. Today it’s Redi Tlhabi’s Khwezi.
2. Why? I think it particularly resonates because Fezeka Khuzwayo, also known in South Africa as Khwezi, through her life and the Zuma rape trial, shows the complexities that women undergo when they report rape. It also shows a big problem with people in power. At a time when Harvey Weinstein is in the news for all the wrong reasons, the Governor of Imo State decided that it was worthwhile to unveil a statue and a road of Zumaand worse, give him a chieftainship. A man who is guilty of at the least, sexual impropriety with his friend’s daughter. What message was Rochas Okorocha passing to the women of Imo, Nigeria or South Africa or the continent in general?
3. Last book read? The Power by Naomi Alderman.
4. Packing for a journey and allowed to take one book. What will it be? I’d probably take Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s I Do Not Come to You By Chance.
5. Why? Because Cash Daddy will make me laugh whenever the journey gets tough.
6. Who is your favourite author/writer? I tend to like books by different writers.
7. Do you think Nigerians read? If the sale of books at all the Ake Festivals I have attended is an indication and all the heated literary engagements I see on social media are an indication, then yes, Nigerians do read.
