The new episode of Pagecast is out now! Farai Mudzingwa chats about his brash and confident debut novel Avenues by Train with Mphuthumi Ntabeni

In this week’s episode of Pagecast, Mphuthumi Ntabeni interviews Farai Mudzingwa about his new book Avenues by Train!

Pagecast offers you insider interviews with recently published authors, looking into the process of writing, exploring the narratives within and providing you with the story behind the story.

Mudzingwa is a Zimbabwean writer whose fiction is influenced by music, our interior selves and alternate realities. He has previously published a short work of fiction – Green Shadows in the Kiya Kiya Republic – and short stories in anthologies by Weaver Press, Kwani?, Writivism, Storymoja and Short Story Day Africa. His reviews and essays have been published on various platforms, both in South Africa and internationally.

Mphuthumi Ntabeni is a historical novelist who contributes to various national and international publications. His second novel, The Wanderers, was published in 2021 and was longlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Prize.

About the book

When seven-year-old Jedza witnesses a tragic incident involving a train and the death of his close boyhood friend in his hometown Miner’s Drift, he is convinced that his life is haunted. Now in his mid-20s, Jedza is a down-and-out electrician, moving to Harare in the hopes that he will escape the darkness and superstitions of the small town.

But living in the shadowy restless atmosphere of the Avenues with its mysterious pools of water rising under musasa trees, he is tormented by the disappearance of his sister and their early encounters with ancestral spirits, the shapeshifting power of the njuzu and a vengeful ngozi.

To move forward, he must stop running away and confront the trauma of his past.

An eclectic, experimental novel, Avenues by Train is a brash and confident debut by an exciting new voice.