“I See it as Affirmation”: Petina Gappah on Winning the 2026 Flora Nwapa Literary Society Award
Petina Gappah is heading into 2026 with fresh recognition. The Zimbabwean writer has been named the recipient of the 2026 Flora Nwapa Literary Society Award, adding another milestone to a career that has already earned her a place among the most celebrated voices in contemporary African fiction.
The award carries the name of Flora Nwapa, the pioneering Nigerian writer widely regarded as the mother of modern African women's literature, which gives the honour a particular weight for any writer working in that tradition.
Gappah has described the recognition as affirmation, a word that feels fitting for a writer whose work has consistently asked readers to sit with complexity, history, and the full texture of Zimbabwean life.
Originally published by Brittle Paper.