Merna Wilson Explained

Daphne Merna Wilson, who wrote as Merna Wilson, was a Zimbabwean journalist, poet and novelist.^[1] She became active as a writer in pre-independence Rhodesia.

Life

Merna Wilson was born in Kwekwe and educated at Mutare High School.^[2] She was a correspondent for African World from 1965 to 1967, and later worked as a buyer.^[1]

The plot of Wilson's first novel Explosion (1966) depicted nationalist politics playing out in a mining compound. The novel, typically for white Rhodesians at the time, treated nationalist leaders as cynically power-hungry rather than having popular legitimacy.^[3] The book gave a fictional portrayal of Terrence Ranger as 'Professor Granger', a pro-Communist manipulator of liberal opinion outside Rhodesia.^[4]

Wilson won the Rhodesian P.E.N. award in 1978. She was on the editorial board of Two Tone.^[2]

Works

• Explosion. London: Robert Hale, 1966. Novel.
• Turn the Tide Gently. London: Robert Hale, 1967. Novel.
• Reap the Whirlwind. London: Robert Hale, 1968. Novel.
• 'The Muriel Mine and those who built it', Rhodesiana, No. 21 (December 1969), pp.55-60
• A Ring Has No End. Salisbury: Gazebo Books, 1977. Poetry.
• Python Cave. Gwelo: Modern Press, 1977. Children's story. (First serialised without the author's permission in The Children's Newspaper, 1973.^[5])
• The Country of the Mind. Salisbury: Kailani Books, 1981. Poetry.
• (ed.) The Wilder Shores of Love. Harare: Gemini, 1984. Poetry anthology.

Notes and References

1. Book: WILSON, Daphne Merna . Who's who of Southern Africa . 1986 . 603 .
2. Book: Colin . Style . Colin Style . O-lan . Style . Mambo Book of Zimbabwean Verse in English . Mambo Press . 1986 . 0869223674 . 402 .
3. Book: Chennells, Anthony . Adrian A. . Roscoe . White Rhodesian Fiction . The Columbia Guide to Central African Literature in English Since 1945 . Columbia University Press . 2008 . 77–8 . 978-0-231-13042-4 . https://books.google.com/books?id=iJKpD0B-PHsC&pg=PA77 .
4. John . McCracken . John McCracken (historian) . Terry Ranger: A Personal Appreciation . Journal of Southern African Studies . 23 . 2 . June 1997 . 176 . 10.1080/03057079708708531 . 2637616 . 1997JSAfS..23..175M .
5. Annual bibliography of Commonwealth literature . The Journal of Commonwealth Literature . 13 . 12 . 1978 .