Chenjerai Hove (1956-2015)
Chenjerai Hove was a leading figure of post-colonial Zimbabwean literature. A severe critic of Robert Mugabe, Chenjerai was forced into exile in 2001. He since lived in France, Norway and the US, where he was hosted under the Stavanger and Miami City of Refuge programme.
Chenjerai Hove wrote poems and novels in both English and Shona. He was a senior literary editor with Zimbabwe Publishing House and worked as a journalist. Hove studied literature and education in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He was president of the Zimbabwe Writers Union from 1984 to 1989, President of PEN Zimbabwe from 1990 to 2007, and a founding member of the Board of Directors of Zimbabwe Human Rights Association from 1990 to 2000. His novel Bones has won several international awards and was voted among the 100 Best Books of Africa in the last 100 years in 2002, and among the 10 Best Books of Zimbabwe in the last 100 years in 2003. His novel Ancestors won Second Prize from the Zimbabwe Literary Awards in 1997. In 2001, Hove was awarded the German-Africa Prize for Freedom of Expression and Thought. As a result of his criticism of Mugabe's current policy, he now lives in exile. Hove has later helped others to gain from his experiences as the Writers' Representative of the ICORN Advisory Group.
In 2009, Hove co-edited Writers, Writing on Conflict in Africa with Okey Ndibe. He was the guest writer in Stavanger City of Refuge from 2005 to 2007 and in Miami City of Refuge from 2010 to 2012.
Publications include:
• And Now the Poets Speak (co-editor; poetry), 1981
• Up In Arms (poetry), Harare: Zimbabwe Publishing House, 1982
• Red Hills of Home (poetry), 1984; Gweru: Mambo Press, 1985.
• Bones (novel), Harare: Baobab Books, 1988; Heineman International AWS, 1989.
• Shadows (novel), Harare: Baobab Books, 1991; Heinemann International Literature and Textbooks, 1992.
• Shebeen Tales: Messages from Harare (journalistic essays), Harare: Baobab Books/London: Serif, 1994
• Rainbows in the Dust (poetry), 1997
• Guardians of the Soil (cultural reflections by Zimbabwe’s elders), 1997.
• Ancestors (novel), 1997. ISBN 0-330-34490-0
• Desperately Seeking Europe (co-author; essays on European identity), 2003
• Palaver Finish, essays on politics and life in Zimbabwe, 2003
• Blind Moon (poetry), 2004.
• The Keys of Ramb (children’s story), 2004
Honours and awards
• 1983 Special Commendations for the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, for Up in Arms
• 1984 Inaugural President, Zimbabwe Writers Union
• 1988 Winner, Zimbabwe Literary Award, for Bones
• 1989 Winner, Noma Award for Publishing In Africa, for Bones
• 1990 Founding Board Member, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (Zimrights)
• 1991-94 Writer-in-Residence, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
• 1994 Visiting Professor, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon, USA
• 1995 Guest Writer, Yorkshire and Humberside Arts and Leeds University, UK
• 1996 Guest Writer, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Germany
• 1998 Second Prize, Zimbabwe Literary Award, for Ancestors
• 2001 German-Africa Prize for literary contribution to freedom of expression
• 2007-08 International Writers Project Fellow, Brown University
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