Andrew Chatora > Quotes

“Criminalising dissent is one conspicuous sign of a failed state.”
― Andrew Chatora, Inside Harare Alcatraz and Other Short Stories

“I am the inheritor of a proud tradition. If contemporaries don’t chase the ghosts of Chinua Achebe, James Baldwin, Charles Mungoshi, Stanlake Samkange, Yvonne Vera and other makers of the great tradition, what are we doing here?”
― Andrew Chatora

“If xenophobia and racism are not the logic of Brexit, I don’t know what other delusions we have to deal with here.”
― Andrew Chatora

“The beauty of writing is that no one can take it away from you. It’s a powerful, liberating force whereby one writes what they want without restriction. I find, when writing, that I’m in my own personal safe space where I navigate fluidly with no fear of failure or judgement.”
― Andrew Chatora, Diaspora Dreams

“Years later, our scepticism has been vindicated. All this land grab did not improve our lot’s mundane lives. Our people continue to live a life of abject poverty and penury. They are still living a life of subsistence. A once feted jewel of Africa nation is now a basket case. One can’t help but ask: Aaah land reform, what was that all about? What was the point really?”
― Andrew Chatora, Harare Voices and Beyond

“The immigrant experience is a story worth telling, one for which I am willing to stick my neck out above the parapet and share with fellow global citizens.

I will always maintain our stories should never be forgotten. The heroism and the desperate struggles many of our people have had to endure in their adopted homes the world over should forever be kept green in the memory of posterity. This is the remit I seek to achieve in my writing.”
― Andrew Chatora, Diaspora Dreams

“Go home white man!” I hear that everywhere. Of course I am white. Of course you are black….But can’t we see that we are trapped together by a sad history. Can't it be negotiated amicably now that we agree that we fought each other for too long? Can't a dignified way be found?”
― Andrew Chatora, Harare Voices and Beyond