Blessing Musariri author page

Blessing Musariri biography

Blessing Musariri is a Zimbabwean author whose work includes poetry, children’s literature, short stories, radio and screenplays, and young adult fiction. Her poetry has been published in journals such as Granta, The Guardian, and Poetry International.

Her first international publication was in 2006 with the poem “Popular Fiction” in Granta’s New Writing Vol. 14. Another poem, “Holding On,” was broadcast on the BBC World Service Christmas Special in 2005. In 2008, three of her poems were published in Poetry International Vol. 12, with “Pandemic” winning a special prize in the 2009 Susie Smith Memorial Prize.

Musariri has authored several children’s books, including The Mystery of Rukodzi, Rufaro’s Day, Going Home: A Tree’s Story, and The Adventures of Bakara Blackbird. Her children’s books have won national awards in Zimbabwe.

Her debut young adult novel, All That It Ever Meant, was published in 2024 by Zephyr, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. The story follows Mati, a 14-year-old girl who travels from London to Zimbabwe after her mother’s death. The novel explores themes of grief, identity, and cultural heritage, featuring a gender-neutral spirit named Meticais who only Mati can see.

All That It Ever Meant was named one of Kirkus’s Best YA Books of the Century (So Far), included in The Observer’s and The Irish Times’s Best Books of 2023, and won the Children’s Africana Book Award in 2024.