In our tenth episode of The African Imaginary Podcast, host Khangi Khoza talks to Zimbabwean writer Sue Nyathi about writing ungovernable women, the gift of present fathers, and what’s next for the financial analyst turned storyteller intent on becoming Africa’s answer to Shonda Rhymes.
Sue Nyathi is the Zimbabwean author of The Polygamist – that Netflix series that shattered every pre-conception of how far a soap opera in Zulu could travel. A decade ago, it was the manuscript no one wanted. Luckily for the story’s millions of global fans, its author was undeterred. Sue, a financial analyst at the time, published the Polygamist herself. And then went on to write four more novels, each one a deeply human portrait of women, family and power. Her characters are so relatable you’ll swear you’ve met them – as she says, “Everyone knows a Jonasi; or someone who has been Jonasi’d.” Based in Johannesburg, Sue has expanded into screenwriting and film production, still telling the stories that modern African society keeps behind closed doors.
