Alexandra Fuller (born 1969) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

- Zimbabwean author. Her articles and reviews have appeared in ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''The New York Times'', ''The Guardian'' and ''

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''.

Personal life

In 1972 Fuller moved with her family to

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

(later Zimbabwe Rhodesia, now

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

). She was educated at boarding schools in

Umtali Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban population of 224,802 and approx ...

and Salisbury (renamed

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

after 1982). She met her American husband, Charlie Ross, in Zambia, where he was running a rafting business for tourists. In 1994, they moved to his home state of Wyoming. Fuller and Ross divorced in 2012. They had two daughters and one son together. Their son, Fi, died in his sleep at the age of 21.Fi: A Memoir of My Son by Alexandra Fuller review – to the edge of reason
''The Guardian''. 18 July 2024 She currently spends much of her time in a

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger (Mongolian language, Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and Thermal insulation, insulated with Hide (skin), skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct Nomad, nomad ...

near Jackson, Wyoming.

Books

Her first book, '' Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight'', published in 2001, is a memoir of life with her family living in southern Africa. It won the

Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize The Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize was presented from 1967 until 2003 by the Royal Society of Literature for the best regional novel of the year. It is named after the novelist Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby (23 June 1898 – 29 September ...

in 2002. In the same year it was featured in ''

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'' list of "Notable Books" and a finalist for ''

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'' First Book Award. A sequel, ''Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness'' about her mother, Nicola Fuller, was published in 2011. Her 2004 book ''Scribbling the Cat'', about war's repercussions, received the

Lettre Ulysses Award The Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage has been given annually since 2003 for the best texts in the genre of literary reportage, which must have been first published during the previous two years. The award was initiated by Lettre Intern ...

for the Art of Reportage in 2005. In her book ''The Legend of Colton H. Bryant'' (2008) Fuller narrates the short life of a Wyoming roughneck who fell to his death at age 25 in February 2006 on an oil rig owned by Patterson–UTI Energy. The autobiographical ''Leaving Before the Rains Come'', published in January 2015, is about the disintegration of Fuller's marriage. Fuller published her first novel, ''Quiet Until the Thaw'', in 2017. In 2019 she published ''Travel Light, Move Fast'' about the death of her father and son. In 2024 she published ''Fi: A Memoir of My Son'', centres on her grief from losing her adult son.

Education

Fuller received a B.A. from

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. In 2007 she received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the same institution.

''Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight''

The memoir follows Fuller, called Bobo by her family, and her sister and parents as they move from England to Rhodesia and other points in Central Africa. The book mainly focuses on stories of family life while moving around

(now

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. The

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

serves as a backdrop to the family's time in Rhodesia. After the war, the Fullers move to Malawi and then Zambia. Fuller does not hide the effect her mother's alcoholism had on her childhood and is frank about her father's casual

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

, and her parents' colonial attitude. Fuller writes about living through a war, being white while growing up in an almost all-black country, and the death of siblings and beloved animals.

Works

* ''Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness'', Waterville, Me.: Thorndike 2011. , * ''Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier'', London: Picador, 2004. , * '' Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: an African childhood'', London: Picador, 2015. , * ''Leaving Before the Rains Come.'' ULVERSCROFT, 2017. , *

References

External links

*
Powells.com Author interview
– ''New York Times'' article on Hell's Backbone Grill by Fuller. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Alexandra 1969 births Living people 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers 21st-century Zimbabwean writers 21st-century Zimbabwean women writers People from Glossop Zimbabwean memoirists Zimbabwean people of English descent English emigrants to the United States Acadia University alumni Zimbabwean exiles British women memoirists Writers about Africa British emigrants to Rhodesia White Rhodesian people British expatriates in Zambia British expatriates in Malawi