Dangarembga’s next book to be read in 2114

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN author Tsitsi Dangarembga has joined a list of renowned world authors for whom the books they are currently working on will be read in a century as part of the Future Library project, an organic artwork by Scottish artiste Katie Paterson.

The Booker award-nominated author joins such luminaries as Margaret Atwood, Ocean Vuong, Karl Ove Knausgård, David Mitchell, Han Kang, Sjón and Elif Shafak.

The project began in 2014 with the planting of 1 000 Norwegian spruces in a patch of forest outside Oslo, Norway. Paterson is asking one writer a year to contribute a manuscript to the project.

Dangarembga said the artwork: “perfectly expresses my yearning for a human culture that centres the earth’s sustainability.”

“I share with many other dwellers of our beautiful planet a deep sense of concern for our home’s well-being. Communicating through the project with those who will be present in 100 years’ time is thrilling and a privilege.”

Dangarembga added that although the novel would be read in 2114, she was not worried about how it would be received.

“I’m always my first audience. So, I think as long as I’m satisfied, then I’ll be ready to let it go. I’ve been writing for a long time, and lots of things, without a great deal of feedback. When it comes, for example with This Mournable Body, that’s wonderful. But a lot of my life has been writing into the void. So, I’m used to writing into the void.”

Paterson said the library was proud to add the Nervous Conditions author on its list of writers.

“Tsitsi Dangarembga’s words have shaped the world. Praised for her ability to capture and communicate vital truths, the Zimbabwean novelist is admired worldwide as a voice of hope,” said Paterson.