NoViolet Bulawayo is an award-winning Zimbabwean author best known for her novels We Need New Names and Glory. Her writing explores migration, identity, childhood, politics and the complicated meaning of home.

Both of her novels have been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, making Bulawayo one of the most recognized contemporary Zimbabwean writers internationally.

Early Life and Education

NoViolet Bulawayo is the pen name of Elizabeth Zandile Tshele (born 12 October 1981).

Bulawayo grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, before moving to the United States at the age of 18.

She later earned an MFA from Cornell University and became a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her experiences in Zimbabwe and the United States would eventually influence her writing, particularly her exploration of migration and belonging.

Read more about her background on the Booker Prize profile of NoViolet Bulawayo.

From Hitting Budapest to International Recognition

Before publishing her first novel, Bulawayo attracted international attention with her short story Hitting Budapest.

The story won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing, one of the best-known awards for African short fiction.

Hitting Budapest later became the opening chapter of her debut novel, We Need New Names.

In 2025, the story achieved another milestone when it was named the Best of Caine, marking the 25th anniversary of the Caine Prize.

Read more about the recognition from Cornell University.

We Need New Names

Published in 2013, We Need New Names follows a young girl named Darling growing up with her friends in a Zimbabwean settlement called Paradise.

Eventually, Darling moves to the United States, where the life she encounters is different from the one she imagined.

Through her experiences, Bulawayo explores childhood, poverty, migration, cultural identity and belonging.

The novel was shortlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize and received several other literary awards.

Read more about We Need New Names on the author’s official website.

Glory

Bulawayo returned in 2022 with her second novel, Glory.

The political satire takes place in the fictional country of Jidada and follows the fall of a longtime ruler known as the Old Horse.

One of the most unusual aspects of the novel is that its characters are animals.

Inspired partly by the fall of Zimbabwe’s longtime president Robert Mugabe in 2017, the novel examines dictatorship, corruption, political power, resistance and revolution.

Glory was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, giving Bulawayo her second Booker nomination.

Read more about Glory on her official website.

NoViolet Bulawayo’s Writing Style

Bulawayo combines contemporary fiction with influences from African storytelling traditions.

Her stories frequently explore:

• Migration and displacement
• Zimbabwean identity
• Childhood
• Politics
• Immigration
• Belonging
• Social inequality
• Power and resistance

What makes her writing particularly interesting is her ability to approach serious subjects through ordinary experiences.

Children play and dream while political and economic problems unfold around them. Migrants search for better opportunities while struggling with what they have left behind.

Her characters make these larger issues personal.

Awards and Achievements

NoViolet Bulawayo’s literary achievements include:

• Caine Prize for African Writing
• PEN/Hemingway Award
• Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
• Etisalat Prize for Literature
• Betty Trask Award
• Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction
• National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35
• 2013 Booker Prize shortlist
• 2022 Booker Prize shortlist
• 2025 Best of Caine Award

More information about her career and awards is available on NoViolet Bulawayo’s official biography.

Why NoViolet Bulawayo Matters

NoViolet Bulawayo has helped bring contemporary Zimbabwean stories to a much wider international audience.

Her work is particularly powerful because she doesn’t present migration as simply escaping one country for a better one.

Leaving home can bring opportunities, but it can also bring loneliness, displacement and questions about identity.

Similarly, her political writing doesn’t focus only on powerful leaders. It also examines how political decisions affect ordinary people.

Through these stories, Bulawayo contributes to a broader representation of African experiences in international literature.

Interesting Facts About Bulawayo

• She grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
• She moved to the United States when she was 18.
• She studied creative writing at Cornell University.
• She was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.
• Hitting Budapest won the Caine Prize for African Writing.
• Her first two novels were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
• She writes about both Zimbabwean and immigrant experiences.

Final Thoughts

NoViolet Bulawayo has established herself as an important voice in contemporary African literature.

Her writing addresses difficult subjects without reducing Africa to hardship. Instead, she writes about people navigating childhood, migration, political change, identity and the search for somewhere to belong.

For readers interested in African female authors and Zimbabwean literature, NoViolet is certainly an author worth knowing.

You will also be interested in reading about other influential female authors.

• Imbolo Mbue: Imbolo Mbue: The Cameroonian Novelist Redefining African Literature

• Mariama Bâ: Mariama Bâ: Senegalese influential writer

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Inspiring Female African Author