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A growing number of book trade figures and prominent authors have added their voices of support for Booker Prize-shortlisted author Tsitsi Dangarembga, who was arrested in Harare in July.
After being arrested in the Zimbabwean capital during a peaceful anti-government protest, the author and activist was released on bail, but she is charged with incitement to commit violence, and breaching coronavirus health and safety regulations.
Independent publishers Atlantic, Icon, Granta, Canongate and Oneworld, alongside English PEN president and author Philippe Sands, Sunday Times literary editor Andrew Holgate and Gaby Wood, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, have all added their voices in support of the author.
Authors including Barbara Kingsolver, Anna Burns, Hanif Kureishi, Kazuo Ishiguro, Margaret Drabble, Martin McDonagh, Bryony Lavery, Carol Ann Duffy and Andrew Motion have also pledged their support.
Support for Dangarembga was galvanised when Faber c.e.o. Stephen Page released a statement demanding the author's aquittal. He said: "As she faces trial, we at Faber & Faber stand with Tsitsi Dangarembga to demand her acquittal and we urge others to support her cause. By joining together and raising our voices, let the power of our collective call effect change."