Interview: Huchu Tendai by Tricia Wombell Lime magazine and the Black Book News blog

Lime mag link: http://issuu.com/limemag
Black Book News link: http://www.tricia-blackbooknews.com/2011/05/interview-with-tendai-huchu.html

Regular readers of this blog will know that The Hairdresser of Harare(link to https://weaverpresszimbabwe.com/literature.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage;=flypage.tpl&product;_id=92&category;_id=1) was the April read for the Black Reading Group. We enjoyed it very much, and I am absolutely thrilled to have had this interview with Tendai. While I am of course, pleased with the generosity of all the authors and writers who have responded to my questions, some of his answers made me laugh out loud. As I said at the end of the reading group post about the Hairdresser of Harare - here (link to http://www.tricia-blackbooknews.com/2011/04/book-club-sunday-17-april-2011.html), I look forward to reading more of Tendai's work.

What has been the reaction to The Hairdresser of Harare?
It has been really positive. The book has had good reviews from Zimbabwe, South Africa, the USA and the UK, all four countries in which it’s available. But more important has been the positive feedback via email from readers right across the world.
Why the salon setting?
The salon acts as a focal point that brings people from different classes and backgrounds together organically. If you’ve been to salons in Zimbabwe you’ll be surprised by just how vibrant and full of life they are.
We enjoyed meeting the Vimbai character - her ambition for a better life was so believable, what have your other readers said of her?
Most of them love her and quite a few loathe her. Vimbai is a sassy, determined go-getter who is also very human in her flaws which she does not quite seem to recognize in herself. Because she’s such a strong character there’s no way the reader can avoid forming an opinion of her.
There was a moment when we all thought that Dumi might have come clean about who he was? Did you consider making that happen earlier in the book?
We learn later that Dumi did come clean to his family once with disastrous consequences. He’s a very friendly and open character who in ideal circumstances would come out but because of this history he’s obviously learnt that for his own and other peoples sakes it is better for him to wear a mask.
We were all surprised by the collective avoidance of Dumi’s family, when he showed up with Vimbai. Would you describe that as a metaphor?
Not at all. The rejection Dumi faces is a very real reaction from the community to people like him.
What is the your favourite section of the book?
Chapter twenty two is particularly explosive. It’s the scene in which Minister M___ arrives unannounced and finds Trina, the white farmer’s wife, getting her hair done at the salon. This chapter brings all the central characters together into one scene (a trick Dostoevsky loved to pull in his books) and reveals a lot about the characters and their motivations.

book link:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XVBbc_oozYk/TZuKDRc9lzI/AAAAAAAAARs/SMKIlS0e6xE/s1600/hairdresser+of+Harare.png

How did you find the publishing process?
Pretty tough, I didn’t become an overnight success (am I even a success I wonder?). I had to work damn hard at it.
How have you found life in Scotland?
The weather is fantastic, the people are lovely. Hell the men here even wear skirts! What a nation.
Will you be basing any of your future books there?
(Tendai coughs and looks aside)
What is your ideal/ most perfect writing environment?
Big warm house on the outskirts of Edinburgh, rent paid, gas paid, electric paid, council tax paid, food in the fridge, top of the range Apple Mac, room with a view, plenty of money in the bank, fan-mail pouring through my mailbox. Alas, I write in bed from my dingy one bedroomed flat on a laptop that’s on its last legs and the only mail I get is brown envelopes from different debt collection agencies, oh and the landlord bless his soul.
What books did you enjoy as a child/teenager?
I didn’t read as much as I should have, I was too busy enjoying my life and being care free. The few books I did read were prescribed reading material at school, Animal Farm, Tunzi and The Faithful Shadow, Julius Caesar - the mandatory Shakespeare; oh and I have vague memories of A Kiss For Little Bear – what a classic.
What book do you wish you had written?
Tough one because there are so many. Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I’d give up a kidney, an ear and one testicle if it meant I could have a sliver of that man’s talent.
What are you working on now?
Don’t you know it's bad luck to talk about work in progress.
Did you study writing?
I didn’t study a creative writing course or anything like that. I learnt through reading writers who I admired and did a lot of trial and error. I wrote awful pieces but that’s just part of the learning process. You don’t just wake up one day and find yourself a virtuoso, you need to get your 10000 hours in there. Sweat, tears and cider.
What would you say to encourage new writers?
READ, YOU FOOLS.
Do you have a book that changed your life?
Crime and Punishment, it was my introduction to Russian Literature. After I read it I knew the possibilities of the human mind are limitless. I can safely say had I not read it I probably would never have put pen to paper.
Do you have any events coming up in the London area?
Nope, big city, bright lights – I leave Londoners alone and they leave me alone.
Suggest a book that you think that the Black Reading Group should read.
Coconut by Kopano Matlwa a very talented, young South African writer who is part of a new generation of authors producing interesting post-apartheid literature. It brilliantly explores themes such as class, race and gender – you’ll love it.
What question should I have asked you and what is the answer?
Q)Do you mind if I asked you all these questions Mr Huchu, are you sure you can take time from your incredibly busy schedule just for little old me, are you sure it’s no trouble? Aww shucks you’re such a great guy.
A)It’s okay love, with great power comes great responsibility.
The Lime magazine remarkable men issue question for (June 2011): What three men have had a remarkable impact on your life and why?
Mr. Chauke – my history teacher at Churchill High School, he canned me a lot with a rubber hose pilfered from the science labs but somewhere in between punishment, taught me to think critically and appreciate there are many different dimensions to any story.
Robert Mugabe – continues to teach me to this day that mankind is such a remarkable creation both capable of reaching the loftiest heights of morality and the basest recesses of depravity.
Martin Gotora (aka DJ Smoothspinner) – high school and university friend, taught me it is possible to get to your lectures with a massive hangover. He also supported me immensely as I was getting started on my writing and receiving rejection letters. Without his optimistic friendship to balance my melancholic disposition I probably would have quit ages ago. Oh, and groupies may not like writers but they also seem to like the DJ’s best mate – saved me from many a cold night.
An edited version of this interview is available in Lime magazine's June 2011 edition.