While we are on the subject of memorable memoirs from Zimbabwe, I would like to introduce you to Robert Muponde. His memoir, The Scandalous Times of a Book Louse: A Memoir of Childhood, was published by Penguin Random House South Africa. “Stories form the blood and bones of Robert Muponde’s enchanting life and times. Book louse Ronald in Rusape chronicles his upbringing through a jeweled array of stories, voices and images quarried from the pungent material of the past. The Scandalous Times of a Book Louse gives a vivid portrait of growing up in rural Zimbabwe in the 1970s and 80s- the classroom scrapes, the cadged cold drinks, the transformative times at the river. Storytelling in this book is both healing and consolation, both frustration and enticement. It is also the prism through which the Louse’s experiences are understood. Each story that is told, whether from the Bible, oral tales, Cervantes or gossip, taps deep into the narrative traditions that animate all cultures. A marvelous and deeply immersive memoir.” -Elleke Boehmer, Professor of World Literature in English, University of Oxford.

Title: The Scandalous Times of a Book Louse

Author: Robert Muponde

Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd

ISBN: 978-1415210550

Robert Muponde grew up in Rusape then migrated to Johannesburg where he has worked and lived for the past 20 years. Muponde holds a PhD in English from the University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, where he is also an Associate Professor of English in the School of Literature, Language and Media, and the Wits Director of Postgraduate Affairs.

His other publications include: Some Kinds of Childhood: Images of History and Resistance in Zimbabwean Literature (African World Press, 2015),

Manning the Nation: Father Figures in Zimbabwean History and Society, edited by Kizito Muchemwa and Robert Muponde (Weaver Press, 2007).

Versions of Zimbabwe: New Approaches to Literature and Culture, edited by Robert Muponde and Ranka Primorac (Weaver Press, 2005).

#ZimbabweLitMonth is curated by novelist Sue Nyathi. She is a published Zimbabwean author of four fiction titles: The Polygamist (2012), The Gold Diggers (2018), A Family Affair (2020), and An Angel’s Demise (2022). She also edited a nonfiction anthology titled When Secrets Become Stories, Women Speak Out (2021). You can visit her website here and follow her on Twitter at @SueNyathi.