Shamiso is a young girl, thoughtful but uncertain, taken by her family from rural Zimbabwe to bustling Harare. As she grows up there, she watches the her distant, stern father, her angry stepmother and her father’s strange, loving cousin, the elderly Jimson, who encourages Shamiso to discover her passion for art, her place in their family, and her voice in the world. When she takes a leap to leave Zimbabwe behind for Brighton, England, Shamiso must find a new family and a new way of living. There she falls in love for the first time with George – whose female identity, Georgie, is everything Shamiso has ever wanted or needed. But can such happiness last, when neither of them knows yet who they truly are? Quirky, challenging and mischievous, this tender coming-of-age story brilliantly examines selfhood, love and the many shapes family can take. From first moments to final steps, Shamiso is a thought-provoking, blazing work of modern existence and all its contradictions.
Author
Brian 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. Chikwava won the fifth Caine Prize for African Writing in 2004 with his short story "Seventh Street Alchemy" (which was published in Writing Still, Weaver Press, Harare, 2003),the first Zimbabwean to win the prize. Making the award, the chair of the judges, Alvaro Ribeiro, described the story as: "A very strong narrative in which Brian Chikwava of Zimbabwe claims the English language as his own, and English with African characteristics.... A triumph for the long tradition of Zimbabwe writing in the face of Zimbabwe’s uncertain future!"
