Tendai Huchu is the author of the novels The Hairdresser of Harare and The Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician. He was born in Zimbabwe and now lives in Scotland.
Q: How did you come up with the main characters
in The Hairdresser of Harare, Vimbai and Dumi, and why did you decide to set
part of the book in a hair salon?
A: Writing the book was a spontaneous affair. It
started with Vimbai’s voice, the first line: “I knew there was something not
quite right about Dumisani the very first time I ever laid eyes on him,” and I was
out of the gate after that…
I decided to use the salon as a microcosm of
Zimbabwean society, a place where people from all walks of life can meet and
interact organically without me needing to orchestrate those encounters.
Q: What do you think the book says about
tolerance and intolerance in Zimbabwe?
A: I’ve discovered in the last couple of years
that what the author intends of the work and what the reader deciphers are two
very different things.
I never set out to write a polemic for or
against one thing or the other. Instead, if the book demonstrates
tolerance/intolerance in its characters, this is merely a reflection of the
situation in that simulation. I think most societies fluctuate on who/what they
will tolerate depending on historical, cultural, economic, political factors
and so forth.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before
you started writing, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I sort of knew what was what, but along the
way there were a few surprises. The first draft was written quickly in a
fortnight. I was so afraid of losing Vimbai’s voice in my head that I didn’t
stop writing, only stopping to eat or sleep when my body couldn’t take it.
Q: You also have another new book out, The
Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician, which deals with Zimbabwean
immigrants in Britain. Was your writing process similar with this book?
A: I wish that were the case, but no, writing
the new book was a slower, deliberate process, because at a technical level –
the architecture and brickwork required to produce it – it is a more complex
work, more moving parts, etc., so it required a different methodology.
I have come to the conclusion that each work
makes its own demands on the creative process, thus, having the idea is not
enough, I must also figure out the correct way of expressing the idea in prose.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: At the moment, I am translating Ignatius
Mabasa’s brilliant novel Mapenzi into English. I’m also taking tentative steps
into a new novel – let’s just say it’s not going as planned at the moment. I
just haven’t figured the damn thing out and it’s driving me insane. Call an
ambulance!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Not really, no, but thank you for having me.
Happy holidays.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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