How to be a published writer in Zambia – or anywhere in the world

Ruth HartleyBook Publishing, Education, Festival, The Shaping of Water, Writing Process, Zambia17 Comments

Writers Circle I want to thank Daniel Sikazwe very much or inviting me to take part with Mubanga Kalimamukwento, the author of The Mourning Bird. in this Writers Circle online forum.  Mubanga and I have published our books in different ways and I’m here to tell you about the decisions I made and why I decided to self-publish. First of […]

What I do all day when I’m writing

Ruth HartleyArt Process, Children's Stories, Feminism, Imagination, Mpapa Gallery, Poetry, Reading, Self-Publishing, The Love and Wisdom Crimes, The Shaping of Water, The Spiral-Bound Notebooks, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, The White and Black Blues, Visual Arts, Writing Process, ZambiaLeave a Comment

Some problems faced by writers What are writers’ problems and what about yours? What do you all do when you’re writing? Please – do comment and tell me how you do things. If you’re a reader then you’re exactly what I need. Writers love readers. Readers, however, are often curious about the habits of writers. As both a writer and […]

Writing, art and the rewriting of history

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Apartheid, Art Process, Colonialism, South Africa, Southern Africa, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, Truth, Visual Arts, War5 Comments

I’ve had to learn a different history I grew up during the British Empire when Cecil John Rhodes was the hero of school history but I had a great teacher. She was a cynical idealist who toed no party lines. At Cape Town University under the Rhodes Memorial, I followed up her questioning style and explored a more radical history […]

The Shaping of Water

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Apartheid, Books by Ruth Hartley, Colonialism, Creativity, Displacement, Freedom Fighters, Identity, Politics, Power, Southern Africa, The Shaping of Water2 Comments

Returning to the past to build the future This year I time-travelled back more than 30 years. I returned to the Ridgeway Hotel in Lusaka to the place where golden weaver birds build their nests above small sun-worshipping crocodiles. Here, there once was the excellent Zintu craft shop, a regular Zambian ladies lunch, an Independence Day National Art Exhibition and […]

The Story of a Storyteller in Zambia

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Book Launch, Book Publishing, Books by Ruth Hartley, Creativity, Graphic Novel, Identity, Imagination, Promotion, Reading, Southern Africa, The Love and Wisdom Crimes, The Shaping of Water, The Spiral-Bound Notebooks, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, The White and Black Blues, Writing Process, Zambia2 Comments

Zambia is the home of my heart. A country I love and that I returned to for a while this year. I was honoured that Dr. Fay Gadsden of Gadsden Publishers, Lusaka generously arranged a book launch for me at the Alliance Francaise – France is my other home so that felt appropriate. Daniel Sikazwe, journalist, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation […]