:00:00. > :00:00.Now on BBC news, it's time for Meet The Author.
:00:07. > :00:08.Petinah Gappah writes about a country that some may think
:00:09. > :00:11.one of the most miserable on earth - Zimbabwe.
:00:12. > :00:12.Where political disintegration and total economic collapse
:00:13. > :00:15.in recent years have consigned so many people to a life
:00:16. > :00:18.Yet, in her collection of short stories, Rotten Row,
:00:19. > :00:21.as in her previous books, she finds a reservoir of resistance,
:00:22. > :00:29.The people in these pages have the same hopes
:00:30. > :00:32.and fears as they would have in a world of plenty.
:00:33. > :00:34.And although they live in a collapsed state,
:00:35. > :00:35.they are, extraordinarily, as recognisable as
:00:36. > :00:59.In a way, these stories are miraculous, because they are
:01:00. > :01:07.a tapestry of survival, really, in a country...
:01:08. > :01:12.That's so lovely of you to say, because I see myself
:01:13. > :01:14.as writing about resilience, because resilience is the quality
:01:15. > :01:16.that strikes me as being the most extraordinary about Zimbabwe
:01:17. > :01:28.It's a really difficult environment, economically,
:01:29. > :01:30.politically, socially, and yet, somehow, people manage
:01:31. > :01:32.to find ways to love, ways to be, that are really...
:01:33. > :01:38.And the fundamentals of human behaviour and human
:01:39. > :01:40.interaction come through, because there's nothing else left.
:01:41. > :01:49.It's really about, ultimately, human relationships.
:01:50. > :01:51.I wanted to write a book that looks at human relationships
:01:52. > :01:53.through a particular prism, and that's the prism
:01:54. > :01:58.And so I thought that this world is an interesting commentary
:01:59. > :02:00.about the political situation in Zimbabwe without necessarily
:02:01. > :02:07.You're talking about a society in which violence and death are ever
:02:08. > :02:14.We have the story of Zaka the Zulu who ends up
:02:15. > :02:20.And the people who were at school can't really believe 15 years
:02:21. > :02:28.This is all something that's very close to the surface.
:02:29. > :02:30.I love that story in particular because it's very much inspired
:02:31. > :02:34.by one of my favourite authors, PD James, for whom the character
:02:35. > :02:37.of the person is partly what leads to what happens to them.
:02:38. > :02:41.It's really a character driven story.
:02:42. > :02:44.Zaka the Zulu is a little bit unusual in this book in that it
:02:45. > :02:46.doesn't have anything to do with the circumstances
:02:47. > :02:49.in the country, because a lot of the crimes that I discuss
:02:50. > :02:51.in the book are opportunistic crimes.
:02:52. > :02:56.Crimes that come out of rage and stress and anger.
:02:57. > :02:59.But that one is a particularly interesting one, because it's
:03:00. > :03:07.You talk about the politics without giving a running commentary on it.
:03:08. > :03:09.There's a wonderful story called The President
:03:10. > :03:18.But, just take us back to the moment when a difficult
:03:19. > :03:23.situation suddenly became one of utter desolation, economically.
:03:24. > :03:26.People fleeing, people with no money.
:03:27. > :03:32.It was as if all the normal functions of a state just stopped.
:03:33. > :03:35.I always say that in many other countries -
:03:36. > :03:37.in normal countries - government is supposed
:03:38. > :03:42.In Zimbabwe, government is an inhibitor.
:03:43. > :03:44.Government is a thing that stops you from achieving your dream.
:03:45. > :03:48.And in many ways these stories reflect that aspect of government.
:03:49. > :03:51.I love that you mentioned The President Always Dies In January
:03:52. > :03:53.because, in my defence, that's actually a statement
:03:54. > :03:59.Because there are always these rumours in January
:04:00. > :04:01.that the president has collapsed and died.
:04:02. > :04:04.But yes, the economic situation does play a very important role in that
:04:05. > :04:08.a lot of people have left the country to make better lives
:04:09. > :04:14.But the people in my book tend to be the ones who have stayed.
:04:15. > :04:18.And they have stayed in these really difficult circumstances.
:04:19. > :04:20.I really admire people who have stayed.
:04:21. > :04:24.I don't like the phrase "brain drain", because it suggests that
:04:25. > :04:26.people who have left the country are better than those
:04:27. > :04:31.I think it's actually a very offensive term, the brain drain,
:04:32. > :04:34.because I think the people that have remained in Zimbabwe are actually
:04:35. > :04:39.We shouldn't give people the idea that this is a book
:04:40. > :04:42.that is going to be depressing from beginning to end,
:04:43. > :04:46.Clearly, there's a depressing political background,
:04:47. > :04:50.I know you are a supporter of the opposition in Zimbabwe.
:04:51. > :04:56.And of course there is poverty, of course there is violence,
:04:57. > :05:00.But there's this sort of well of cheerfulness
:05:01. > :05:05.It's kind of a mordant humour, isn't it?
:05:06. > :05:11.If we cannot change the situation, we may as well laugh at it.
:05:12. > :05:14.I sometimes think that Zimbabweans are not able to have any kind
:05:15. > :05:18.of African or Zimbabwean Spring, in part because we are able
:05:19. > :05:23.How would you describe the character of the country now,
:05:24. > :05:26.the place that you grew up, which went through this terrible
:05:27. > :05:30.I'm very much influenced by something that
:05:31. > :05:37.He said, the thing that makes me sad about Zimbabwe is that I no longer
:05:38. > :05:40.recognise the places of my childhood.
:05:41. > :05:43.Physically recognise, as well as emotionally recognise.
:05:44. > :05:49.But at the same time, I wonder whether I'm not caught up
:05:50. > :05:57.And I don't know whether - having left Zimbabwe when I was 23
:05:58. > :06:00.and only going back for occasional visits - whether I'm really
:06:01. > :06:04.the right person to say, this is what Zimbabwe has become.
:06:05. > :06:06.Because obviously, Zimbabwe to me is a very sad place
:06:07. > :06:10.at the moment, because it's not the Zimbabwe I remember.
:06:11. > :06:13.But maybe that Zimbabwe is what has to be in order to get
:06:14. > :06:19.How do you explain Mugabe's grip on power?
:06:20. > :06:24.One, he obviously controls the state.
:06:25. > :06:29.But this is something that Western audiences don't
:06:30. > :06:36.He's extremely charismatic, especially when he's
:06:37. > :06:42.So there's a mix of popularity and power there.
:06:43. > :06:44.There are people who genuinely vote for ZANU-PF, much
:06:45. > :06:48.There is rigging, and there is, you know, coercion,
:06:49. > :06:52.but there are also people who genuinely vote for him.
:06:53. > :06:55.As I say, in the book you present these portraits of characters
:06:56. > :07:01.who are very resilient and full of fun and full of...
:07:02. > :07:05.I don't know, a philosophical wisdom about their plight.
:07:06. > :07:08.Do you think it's a place where there still is hope?
:07:09. > :07:14.Maybe it's a desperate kind of hope, but I really do believe
:07:15. > :07:17.that there is enough in our past and in our present to give us
:07:18. > :07:24.It's interesting, you have written before about life in Zimbabwe.
:07:25. > :07:27.And these are vivid, vivid pictures of people who are living
:07:28. > :07:32.It's almost as if you don't want to let this experience go,
:07:33. > :07:35.because it's so rich it provides a writer with so much material
:07:36. > :07:38.and so much evidence of what human beings have to do.
:07:39. > :07:49.That's actually a very acute observation.
:07:50. > :07:52.In many ways, this book is everything I'm thinking
:07:53. > :07:55.about Zimbabwe right now, because I want to step away from it
:07:56. > :08:02.So this is my Goodbye Zimbabwe Book for the time being.
:08:03. > :08:06.Because I will come back to Zimbabwe, I hope,
:08:07. > :08:09.two or three books from now, but for now, I think I've said just
:08:10. > :08:12.about all I want to say about the richness of Zimbabwe.
:08:13. > :08:16.So there will be a pause and then you will say,