Yvonne Vera

Yvonne Vera
Born	(1964-09-19)19 September 1964 Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia
Died	7 April 2005(2005-04-07) (aged 40) Toronto, Canada
Nationality	Zimbabwean
Alma mater	York University
Occupation(s)	novelist, short story writer, arts administrator
Era	1992–2005
Spouse	John Jose ​ (m. 1987⁠–⁠2005)​

Yvonne Vera (19 September 1964 – 7 April 2005) was an author from Zimbabwe.^[1] Her first published book was a collection of short stories, Why Don't You Carve Other Animals (1992), which was followed by five novels: Nehanda (1993), Without a Name (1994), Under the Tongue (1996), Butterfly Burning (1998), and The Stone Virgins (2002). According to the African Studies Center at University of Leiden, "her novels are known for their poetic prose, difficult subject-matter, and their strong women characters, and are firmly rooted in Zimbabwe's difficult past^[2]." For these reasons, she has been widely studied and appreciated by those studying postcolonial African literature.^[3]

Life

Vera was born in Bulawayo, in what was then Southern Rhodesia, to Jerry Vera and Ericah Gwetai.^[4] At the age of eight, she worked as a cotton-picker near Hartley.^[5] She attended

• 1994:
  Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa) and Zimbabwe Publishers' Literary Award, for Without a Name^{[citation needed}
  ]
• 2002: Macmillan Writers' Prize for Africa for The Stone Virgins[7]
• 2003: National Arts Merit Awards for Best Written Work.^[11]

Works

While at university, Vera submitted a story to a Toronto magazine: the publisher asked for more, so she sat down to write them.^[7] Her collection of short stories, Why Don't You Carve Other Animals, was published in 1992. It was followed by five completed novels:

• Nehanda (Baobab Books, 1993), shortlisted for
  Commonwealth Writers' Prize^[5]
• Without a Name (Baobab Books, 1994), awarded Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Africa[7] and Zimbabwe Publishers' Literary Award^[5]
• Under the Tongue (Baobab Books, 1996)^[12]
• Butterfly Burning (1998), awarded a German literary prize, LiBeraturpreis
  , in 2002
• The Stone Virgins (2002), awarded Macmillan Writers' Prize for Africa; extracted in New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby, 2029^[13]

At the time of her death Vera was working on a new novel, Obedience, which has never been published.^[6] Her other works have been published in Zimbabwe, Canada and several other countries, including translations into Spanish, Italian and Swedish.

Vera wrote obsessively, often for 10 hours a day, and described time when she was not writing as "a period of fasting".

• Nehanda Nyakasikana
• TSAR Publications

References

• Robert Muponde and Mandivavarira Maodzwa-Taruvinga, eds, Sign and Taboo: Perspectives on the Poetic Fiction of Yvonne Vera (Harare: Weaver Press, 2002). Publisher's review
• Yvonne Vera at postcolonial Literature in English.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Yvonne Vera.

• Yvonne Vera archives are held at the
  Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario
• Interview with Financial Gazette, 2002
• Jane Bryce, Interview with Yvonne Vera, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 1 August 2000. Published in Sign and Taboo (Harare: Weaver Press, 2002).