NoViolet Bulawayo

NoViolet Bulawayo (pen name of Elizabeth Zandile Tshele, born 12 October 1981 in Tsholotsho) is a Zimbabwean author, and Stegner Fellow at Stanford University (2012–2014). In 2012 the National Book Foundation named her a 5 under 35 honoree.

Bulawayo was born and raised in Zimbabwe and attended Njube High School and later Mzilikazi High School for her A levels. She completed her college education in the US, studying at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and earning bachelor's and master's degrees in English from Texas A&M University-Commerce and Southern Methodist University respectively. In 2010, she completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Cornell University, where her work was recognized with a Truman Capote Fellowship.

Her debut novel entitled We Need New Names was released in 2013, and was included in the 2013 Man Booker Prize shortlist. This made her the first black African woman and the first Zimbabwean to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She also won the Etisalat Prize for Literature and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award among other accolades.

She has begun work on a memoir project. Bulawayo sits on the pan-African literary initiative, Writivism's Board of Trustees.

• 2010 Truman Capote Fellowship
• 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing for the short story "Hitting Budapest" about a gang of street children in a Zimbabwean shantytown.
• 2013 Man Booker Prize shortlist for We Need New Names
• 2013 National Book Award's "5 Under 35" chosen by a panel of past finalists and winners. Bulawayo was selected by Junot Díaz.
• 2013 Guardian First Book Award shortlist for We Need New Names
• 2013 Barnes & Noble Discover Award finalist for We Need New Names
• 2013 Etisalat Prize for Literature winner for We Need New Names
• 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, winner for We Need New Names.
• 2014 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award winner for We Need New Names

• "NoViolet Bulawayo wins 12th Caine Prize for African Writing", Caine Prize for African Writing.
• Alison Flood (2011-07-12). "NoViolet Bulawayo wins 'African Booker'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
• Julia Fleischaker (September 13, 2013). "Women dominate the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 list". Melville House Books. Retrieved September 14, 2013. 
• "We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo". The Guardian. 15 November 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2014. 
• "2013 Discover Awards". Barnes & Noble. 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2014. 
• "Etisalat Prize for Literature Announces 2013 Shortlist". Etisalat Prize. January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014. 
• Ben (February 23, 2014). "NoViolet Bulawayo Wins the Inaugural Etisalat Prize for Literature". Books Live. Retrieved February 23, 2014. 
• Carolyn Kellogg (April 11, 2014). "Jacket Copy: The winners of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes are ...". LA Times. Retrieved April 14, 2014. 
• Allan Kozinn (March 17, 2014). "Writer From Zimbabwe Wins PEN/Hemingway Award for First Novel". New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2014. 
• Yvonne Zipp (March 18, 2014). "NoViolet Bulawayo wins prestigious Hemingway/PEN award". MLive.com. Retrieved April 2, 2014. 

• 2009 "Snapshots", published in New Writing from Africa 2009 (J. M. Coetzee, ed.)
• 2010 "Hitting Budapest", published in Boston Review and The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011
• 2013 We Need New Names

• NoViolet Bulawayo (November–December 2010). "Hitting Budapest". Boston Review. Retrieved January 23, 2014.