K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award
Panashe Chigumadzi is a novelist and essayist, born in Zimbabwe and grew up in South Africa. In 2015, her debut novel, Sweet Medicine, was published to both critical and popular acclaim. She writes non-fiction in her capacity as founding editor of Vanguard Magazine, a platform for young black women coming of age in post-apartheid South Africa and contributor to a number of other South African titles, including City Press, Sunday Times and The Star. She has also been a commentator for international media such as the BBC, The Guardian, Netherlands’ NiewsUur and Germany’s Spiegel. K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award Prior to this, she gained media experience both as a journalist for CNBC Africa and columnist for Forbes Woman Africa, and as a project executive for the Africa Business News Group. In 2015, she became a Ruth First Fellow and is currently completing a Master’s Degree in African Literature at Wits University, Johannesburg. She is curator of the inaugural Abantu Book Festival taking place in December 2016 in Soweto.