Zukiswa Wanner is the author of Satirical nonfiction Maid in SA 30 Ways to Leave Your Madam (August 2013)and columnist behind The Weekend Star (Kenya)’s humour column Outsider Looking In.
Zukiswa was one of 66 writers in the world (with Wole Soyinka, Jeanette Winterson, and Mandla Langa, among others) to write a contemporary response to the Bible. The works were staged in London theatres and at Westminister Abbey in October 2011. 66 Books: 21st Century Writers Speak to the King James Version Bible’s proceeds benefit disadvantaged art students.
Maid in SA: 30 Ways to Leave Your Madam(Jacana Media SA) was released in August 2013. Maid in SA is a laugh-out-loud take on a woman’s home, but is as serious as the security guards in gated communities. It is a quirky, lighter look at one of South Africa’s most important, yet most overlooked, relationships: that between a domestic worker and her madam. In this book you’ll find the women in your life – your mothers, your sisters, your cousins, your friends and yourself. See Excerpt and more about Maid in SA.
Zukiswa Wanner’s Past Projects
. Novelist : Commonwealth Best Book Africa Region and Herman Charles Bosman Award shortlisted novel Men of the South (2010); Behind Every Successful Man (2008); South African Literary Award shortlisted for Best Book by a writer under 35 The Madams (2006)
· 2012 Opensociety Writer of The Politics of Race, Class, and Identity in SA Educationhttps://www.guernicamag.com/
· Writer of 2011 Mail & Guardian’s book of Women Introductory essay , Being a Woman in South Africahttps://bow2011.mg.co.za/
· 2011 co-editor of Outcasts – a collection of short stories from Africa and Asia with Indian writer Rohini Chowdhury.
· Writer – children’s books Jama Loves Bananas and Refilwe 2012.
· Co-authored A Prisoner’s Home (2010) , a biography on 8115 Vilakazi Street with award-winning South African photographer Alf Kumalo.
· Co-authored L’Esprit du Sport (2010) with three French writers, five South African writers, and French photographer Amelie Debray.
· Founder of ReadSA – a writer-initiated campaign to get South Africans reading with a particular emphasis on donating locally-written books to school libraries (and where unavailable, start libraries).
· Was in inaugural writing team for first South African radio soapie in English, SAFM’s Radio Vuka.
· Contributed to the anthology Home Away (2010), a collection by South African writers whose profits continue to benefit victims of xenophobic violence in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
· Guest edited Dec 2007/Jan 2008 and Jan/Feb 2011 issues of British-based online literary journal, African Writing and continues to be a blogger for said journal.
· 2008 Editor of Global Campaign to Education’s Big Read (a collection of stories, essays, and testimonies from world citizens on the importance of reading).
· Has conducted writing workshops for writers in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Norway, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Denmark.
· Contributed articles to Observer, New Statesman, O, Elle, The Guardian, Africa Review, Mail & Guardian, Marie Claire, Real, and Juice ; Wordsetc, New African, New African Woman literary essays to Afropolitan, OpenSpace,Soros Foundation, Wordsetc, Baobab, Sunday Independent, City Press, & Sunday Times.
Accolades
· Listed on Africa Report’s People to Watch for 2010.
· Ranked in the top 25 by East African magazine’s Top 25 African Writers in 2011.
. One of 200 Young South Africans To Take to Lunch 2009 for work in literature
· One of 100 influential South African women listed in Mail & Guardian’s 2010 Book of Women and wrote the introduction to the Book of Women for 2011.