Background
Yvonne Vera was born on September 19, 1964 in Bulawayo, Bulawayo Province, Zimbabwe. She was a daughter of Jerry Vera and Ericah Gwetai, a schoolteacher.
Mzilikazi High School, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Yvonne Vera attended Mzilikazi High School.
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Yvonne Vera gained her Doctor of Philosophy degree in English Literature from the York University in 1995.
Mzilikazi High School, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Yvonne Vera attended Mzilikazi High School.
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Yvonne Vera gained her Doctor of Philosophy degree in English Literature from the York University in 1995.
(The place is the white-ruled Rhodesia of the seventies (n...)
The place is the white-ruled Rhodesia of the seventies (now Zimbabwe), the exile the African in his own land. Young men and women flee their villages to join the freedom fighters in the forests. These stories, set during the years of the armed struggle, tell of the other struggle, that of survival of those who stayed behind.
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Dont-Carve-Other-Animals/dp/0920661246/?tag=2022091-20
1992
(Nehanda tells the story of a late nineteenth century vill...)
Nehanda tells the story of a late nineteenth century village where a young woman has been given a divine calling: the gift to inspire a war. Told in beautifully lucid and evocative prose, this is the portrait of resistance and struggle, a tale of a people's first meeting with colonialism.
https://www.amazon.com/Nehanda-Yvonne-Vera/dp/0920661416/?tag=2022091-20
1993
(This book follows the life of a emigre from Zimbabwe, a w...)
This book follows the life of a emigre from Zimbabwe, a woman who makes her way across Africa in flight from civil war in her homeland.
https://www.amazon.com/Without-Name-Yvonne-Vera/dp/0920661548/?tag=2022091-20
1994
(In Under the Tongue, the adolescent Zhizha has lost the w...)
In Under the Tongue, the adolescent Zhizha has lost the will to speak. In lyrical fragments, Vera relates the story of Zhizha's parents, and the horrifying events that led to her mother's imprisonment and her father's death. With this novel Vera became the first Zimbabwean writer ever to deal frankly with incest. With these surprising, at times shocking novels Vera shows herself to be a writer of great potential.
https://www.amazon.com/Under-Tongue-Yvonne-Vera/dp/0864863535
1996
(Butterfly Burning brings the brilliantly poetic voice of ...)
Butterfly Burning brings the brilliantly poetic voice of Zimbabwean writer Yvonne Vera to American readers for the first time. Set in Makokoba, a black township, in the late l940s, the novel is an intensely bittersweet love story. When Fumbatha, a construction worker, meets the much younger Phephelaphi, he "wants her like the land beneath his feet from which birth had severed him." He in turn fills her "with hope larger than memory." But Phephelaphi is not satisfied with their "one-room" love alone. The qualities that drew Fumbatha to her, her sense of independence and freedom, end up separating them. And the closely woven fabric of township life, where everyone knows everyone else, has a mesh too tight and too intricate to allow her to escape her circumstances on her own. Vera exploits language to peel away the skin of public and private lives. In Butterfly Burning she captures the ebullience and the bitterness of township life, as well as the strength and courage of her unforgettable heroine.
https://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Burning-Novel-Yvonne-Vera-ebook/dp/B006GR5KIS/?tag=2022091-20
1998
(In 1980, after decades of guerilla war against colonial r...)
In 1980, after decades of guerilla war against colonial rule, Rhodesia earned its hard-fought-for independence from Britain. Less than two years thereafter when Mugabe rose to power in the new Zimbabwe, it signaled the begining of brutal civil unrest that would last nearly a half decade more. With The Stone Virgins Yvonne Vera examines the dissident movement from the perspective of two sisters living in a small township outside of Bulawayo. In a portrait painted in successive impressions of life before and after the liberation, Vera explores the quest for dignity and a centered existence against a backdrop of unimaginable violence; the twin instincts of survival and love; the rival pulls of township and city life; and mankind's capacity for terror, beauty, and sacrifice. One sister will find a reason for hope. One will not make it through alive. Weaving historical fact within a story of grand passions and striking endurance, Vera has gifted us with a powerful and provocative testament to the resilience of the Zimbabwean people.
https://www.amazon.com/Stone-Virgins-Novel-Yvonne-Vera-ebook/dp/B006MH2SWI/?tag=2022091-20
2002
Yvonne Vera was born on September 19, 1964 in Bulawayo, Bulawayo Province, Zimbabwe. She was a daughter of Jerry Vera and Ericah Gwetai, a schoolteacher.
Yvonne Vera attended Mzilikazi High School. She gained her Doctor of Philosophy degree in English Literature from York University in 1995.
Yvonne Vera taught English literature at Njube High School. In 1987 she immigrated to Canada. She was a key speaker at many international literary events, wrote for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including a column for a Swiss newspaper, Die Weltwoche, and presented for television and radio. In 1995, Vera returned to Zimbabwe and in 1997 became director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, a gallery that showcases local talent ranging from that of professional artists to school children. In 2004 she went back to Canada, where she died on April 7, 2005, of AIDS-related meningitis.
Yvonne Vera is best known for her poetic prose. She was the winner of the first Macmillan Writer’s Prize for The Stone Virgins. In 1999, Vera was the recipient of Sweden’s Voice of Africa award. Her works have been translated into several languages including German, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish and Norwegian.
(Nehanda tells the story of a late nineteenth century vill...)
1993(This book follows the life of a emigre from Zimbabwe, a w...)
1994(Butterfly Burning brings the brilliantly poetic voice of ...)
1998(In 1980, after decades of guerilla war against colonial r...)
2002(The place is the white-ruled Rhodesia of the seventies (n...)
1992(In Under the Tongue, the adolescent Zhizha has lost the w...)
1996Physical Characteristics: In the late 1980s, Yvonne Vera was diagnosed as HIV-positive, but did never shared this information during her lifetime.
In 1987 Yvonne Vera married John Jose, a Canadian teacher.
