NoViolet Bulawayo, the pen name of Elizabeth Zandile Tshele, is a novelist of Zimbabwean origin, now based in California. She has written one novel, We Need New Names, and published award winning short stories. Bulwayo decided to adopt a pseudonym for several reasons, not least because, while growing up, she was not often called Elizabeth and never fully identified with the name (Bulawayo and Kohler, 2016, n.pag.). The name “NoViolet Bulwayo” is a way for the author to honour her origins:
NoViolet is my mother’s name, she died when I was 18 months old. I have no memory of her and she wasn’t spoken about when I was growing up, so that kind of messed me up as a kid and I’ve …
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Citation: Brits, Baylee. "NoViolet Bulawayo". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 December 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13747, accessed 23 November 2024.]