HARARE – International trade lawyer and author Petina Gappah, whose property was reportedly attached by bailiffs this month over an $18,000 defamation judgment, told a literary festival audience that “the story of my brokenness has been greatly exaggerated” and suggested she was content to wait “for the truth to emerge.”
Speaking at the Harare International Literature Festival on Wednesday, Gappah directly addressed recent media reports about her financial situation, comparing her patience for resolution to the two decades she spent researching her acclaimed novel.
“I am happy to wait for a month or more for the truth to emerge,” Gappah said in her keynote address. “I mean, I spent 20 years between 1998 and 2018 researching one novel. 20 years. I am that patient.”
The remarks come amid widespread coverage of a High Court judgment that awarded lawyer Fadzayi Mahere $18,000 in damages for defamation, with recent reports claiming bailiffs had attached Gappah’s property on November 6.
_Kukurigo_ sources inside the Sheriff’s office claim the reports, initially published by NewsHawks, were entirely false, and part of a conspiracy to embarrass Gappah who reportedly settled the award in full.
In her wide-ranging address to diplomats and literary figures, Gappah masterfully wove her response to the controversy into a broader discussion about legacy and Zimbabwe’s literary heritage, demonstrating the intellectual rigor that has earned her international recognition.
The award-winning author of “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” highlighted Zimbabwe’s rich literary tradition, paying tribute to writers from Stanlake Samkange to NoViolet Bulawayo, while drawing a sharp distinction between inheritance and legacy. “Inheritance is what you get from those who are gone, and legacy is what you leave after you are gone,” she noted.
Gappah described how her meticulous research on David Livingstone’s African companions led to a permanent exhibition at the David Livingstone Birthplace museum in Scotland, marking a significant achievement in retelling African histories from African perspectives.
Drawing from classical literature, she concluded with Pericles’ famous oration on legacy, asserting that true remembrance lives “not just on gravestones, and statues, not just written in words, but in the hearts of us all.”
The speech, which received a standing ovation, positioned Gappah’s current legal challenges within a broader context of patient scholarship and enduring legacy, while suggesting that forthcoming developments may challenge recent media narratives about her circumstances.
Kukurigo
