Peter Godwin

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Peter Godwin
Peter Godwin head shot.jpg
Born (1957-12-04) 4 December 1957 (age 65)
Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
Occupation(s)Journalist, Author/Memoirist
Notable credit(s)Foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times

Author of Mukiwa: White Boy in Africa

Author of When A Crocodile Eats The Sun

Author of The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2001;div. 2019)​
Children3
Signature
Peter Godwin's signature (cropped).jpg

Peter Godwin (born 4 December 1957) is a Zimbabwean author, journalist, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, and former human rights lawyer. Best known for his writings concerning the breakdown of his native Zimbabwe, he has reported from more than 60 countries and written several books. [1] He served as president of PEN American Center from 2012 to 2015 [2] and resides in Manhattan, New York.

Contents

Early life and education

His mother came from an Anglican background in England and she moved to Southern Rhodesia in her twenties, where she was a medical doctor. His father, Kazimierz Goldfarb, a Polish Jewish engineer moved to the country from England after marrying Godwin's mother. Godwin's paternal grandparents and aunts were murdered at Treblinka extermination camp in the Holocaust. [3] For fear of anti-semitism, Godwin's father did not tell his children about his Jewish background for decades and instead went by the name George Godwin. [3] [4]

Godwin grew up with his family in Rhodesia, where he attended St. George's College. He was conscripted into the British South Africa Police at the age of seventeen to fight in the Rhodesian Bush War. In 1978, his older sister Jain and her fiancé were killed when their car was ambushed by insurgents. Another sister, Georgina Godwin, has worked as a journalist, broadcast presenter and podcaster, in both Zimbabwe (until 2001) and the UK.

Peter Godwin studied law at Cambridge University and international relations at Oxford University. [5]

Career

Early career

Godwin was formerly a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times (London), covering wars in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Later he was the chief correspondent for the BBC's foreign affairs program, directing documentaries on Cuba, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans. [1]

His early books include Rhodesians Never Die: The Impact of War and Political Change on White Rhodesia c1970 – 1980, co-written with Ian Hancock; The Three of Us, co-written with Joanna Coles; and Wild at Heart: Man and Beast in Southern Africa, with photographs by Chris Johns.

Journalism

Godwin is a contributor to The New York Times , and Vanity Fair , among other publications. In 2008 he wrote in the Times about the small islands of Likoma and Chizumulu on Lake Malawi, which are lacustrine exclaves of Malawi located in Mozambican territorial waters. [6] He has also reviewed books for the New York Times Book Review. [7]

In 2007, he called for the international community to "make it clear" to South African president Thabo Mbeki "that he, and the new South Africa, have a special moral obligation to help a nearby people who are oppressed and disenfranchised, having been assisted in its own struggle by just such pressure." [8] In 2008, Godwin suggested in The New York Times that the withdrawal of participating countries from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa might persuade Mbeki to use his country's economic power to draw Mugabe's rule in Zimbabwe "to an end in weeks rather than months." [9]

Other professional activities

In 2012, Godwin was named President of PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world's oldest literary and human rights organisation. [10] On 20 March 2012, Peter Godwin, as the incoming President of PEN American Center, read poetry by the imprisoned, Liu Xiaobo, with outgoing PEN President, Kwame Anthony Appiah. [11]

Godwin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. [12] He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, [13] an Orwell Fellow, [14] and a MacDowell Fellow, [15] and has also taught writing at the New School, Princeton University, and Columbia University. [1]

Books and documentaries

Industry of Death

Godwin's film The Industry of Death (1993) was an investigation of Thailand's sex industry.

Mukiwa

In 1997, Godwin published Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa. A memoir about growing up in Southern Rhodesia in the 1960s and 1970s during the Rhodesian Bush War, it was described by the Boston Globe as "devastatingly brilliant" and "[o]ne of the best memoirs to come out of Africa." [16] The book won The Orwell Prize in 1997. [14]

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun

In 2006, his second memoir, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun , was published. [17] It details the ebbing of his father's life, set to the backdrop of modern-day Zimbabwe, and his discovery of his father's Polish Jewish roots.

The Fear

Godwin's book, The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe (2011), [18] chronicles the systematic campaign of murder and torture unleashed by Zimbabwe's autocratic ruler following his defeat at the polls. Godwin was interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air (NPR) in March 2011 about the situation in Zimbabwe since the 2008 general election. [19]

The Fear was selected as a best book of 2011 by The New Yorker, The Economist, and Publishers Weekly.

Exit Wounds

Godwin's fourth memoir, Exit Wounds will be published in the second half of 2024. [20]

Personal life

Godwin was married to Joanna Coles, living together in the Upper West Side of Manhattan with their sons, Thomas and Hugo, who as of November 2019 were aged 20 and 18 respectively, and with a dog, Phoebe. [21] His daughter, Holly, who was 25 years old as of November 2019, is based in the UK. [22] In July 2019, Coles filed for divorce from Godwin.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Until roughly 2,000 years ago, what would become Zimbabwe was populated by ancestors of the San people. Bantu inhabitants of the region arrived and developed ceramic production in the area. A series of trading empires emerged, including the Kingdom of Mapungubwe and Kingdom of Zimbabwe. In the 1880s, the British South Africa Company began its activities in the region, leading to the colonial era in Southern Rhodesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodesia</span> State in Southern Africa (1965–1979)

Rhodesia, officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, which had been self-governing since achieving responsible government in 1923. A landlocked nation, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east. From 1965 to 1979, Rhodesia was one of two independent states on the African continent governed by a white minority of European descent and culture, the other being South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Smith</span> Prime Minister of Rhodesia (1919–2007) in office from 1964 to 1979

Ian Douglas Smith was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979. He was the country's first premier born and raised in Rhodesia, and led the predominantly white government that declared independence from the United Kingdom in November 1965 following a prolonged dispute with the British government, which demanded black majority rule as a condition for independence. Smith remained Prime Minister for almost all of the 14 years of international isolation that followed for the unrecognised state, and he oversaw Rhodesia's security forces during most of the Bush War, which pitted the government against communist-funded black nationalist fighters. Smith remains a highly controversial figure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZANU–PF</span> Ruling political party of Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years under Robert Mugabe, first as prime minister with the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and then as president from 1987 after the merger with the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and retaining the name ZANU–PF, until 2017, when he was removed as leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Nkomo</span> Zimbabwean politician

Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and Matabeleland politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1990 until his death in 1999. He founded and led the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) from 1961 until it merged in 1987 with Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) to form ZANU–PF after an internal military crackdown that claimed the lives of as many as 20,000 people in western Zimbabwe, mostly ethnic Ndebele ZAPU supporters.

Herbert Wiltshire Pfumaindini Chitepo led the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) until he was assassinated in March 1975. Although his murderer remains unidentified, the Rhodesian author Peter Stiff says that a former soldier of the British Special Air Service (SAS), Hugh Hind, was responsible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abel Muzorewa</span> First and only prime minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (1979-80)

Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa, also commonly referred to as Bishop Muzorewa, was a Zimbabwean bishop and politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979. A United Methodist Church bishop and nationalist leader, he held office for only a few months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodesian Bush War</span> 1964–1979 conflict in Southern Africa

The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second Chimurenga as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Zimbabweans</span> Ethnic group in Zimbabwe

White Zimbabweans are Zimbabwean people of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these Zimbabweans of European ethnic origin are mostly English-speaking descendants of British settlers and a small minority of them are either Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Afrikaners from South Africa and/or those descended from Greek and Portuguese immigrants.

Geoffrey Nyarota is a Zimbabwean journalist and human rights activist. Born in colonial Southern Rhodesia, he trained as a teacher before beginning his career with a Zimbabwean state-owned newspaper, The Herald. As editor of the state-owned Bulawayo Chronicle in 1989, he helped to break the "Willowgate" scandal, which resulted in several resignations from the cabinet of President Robert Mugabe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Rhodesia Flight 825</span> Passenger aircraft which was shot down in 1978

Air Rhodesia Flight 825 was a scheduled passenger flight that was shot down by the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) on 3 September 1978, during the Rhodesian Bush War. The aircraft involved, a Vickers Viscount named the Hunyani, was flying the last leg of Air Rhodesia's regular scheduled service from Victoria Falls to the capital Salisbury, via the resort town of Kariba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia–Zimbabwe relations</span> Bilateral relations

Foreign relations exist between Australia and Zimbabwe. Both countries have full embassy level diplomatic relations. Australia currently maintains an embassy in Harare, and Zimbabwe maintains an embassy in Canberra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth of Nations</span> History of Zimbabwes relations with the Commonwealth of Nations

Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth of Nations have had a controversial and stormy diplomatic relationship. Zimbabwe is a former member of the Commonwealth, having withdrawn in 2003, and the issue of Zimbabwe has repeatedly taken centre stage in the Commonwealth, both since Zimbabwe's independence and as part of the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political history of Zimbabwe</span> History of politics in Zimbabwe and Rhodesia

The modern political history of Zimbabwe starts with the arrival of white people to what was dubbed Southern Rhodesia in the 1890s. The country was initially run by an administrator appointed by the British South Africa Company. The prime ministerial role was first created in October 1923, when the country achieved responsible government, with Sir Charles Coghlan as its first Premier. The third Premier, George Mitchell, renamed the post Prime Minister in 1933.

Michael Theodore Hayes Auret was a Zimbabwean farmer, politician, and activist. A devout Catholic, he served as chairman and later director of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe (CCJP) from 1978 until 1999. He also served as a member of Parliament for Harare Central from 2000 to 2003, when he resigned and emigrated to Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Smith (Rhodesian politician)</span> Rhodesian/Zimbabwean politician

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Peter Stiff was a London-born South African best-selling author of both fiction and non fiction.

State House, formerly known as Government House, is the official residence of the President of Zimbabwe and is located in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was previously used by the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia, Governor of Southern Rhodesia and the Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in addition to being occupied by the internationally unrecognised Rhodesian Officer Administering the Government and later President of Rhodesia. It was constructed in 1910 to a design by Detmar Blow in the Cape Dutch revival style.

Zimbabwe House, formerly called Independence House and Dzimbahwe, is an official residence of the President of Zimbabwe in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was built in 1910 as was used as the house of the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia, Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.

Brigadier W. A. "Bill" Godwin was a Rhodesian army officer. He served with the Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR) during the British colonial era and was mentioned in despatches for service during the Malayan Emergency. After Rhodesia's 1965 unilateral declaration of independence from Britain Godwin remained with the RAR, rising to command its 1st battalion. By 1972 Godwin had reached the rank of brigadier and commanded Rhodesia's 2nd Brigade. He had retired by 1975 but was brought back to help establish Guard Force, a new armed service that provided security to the protected villages. The unit disbanded after the 1980 transition to black-majority government.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Peter Godwin". Oslo Freedom Forum. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "You searched for Peter Godwin".
  3. 1 2 The Dispossessed The New York Times. 11 June 2007
  4. ↑ The secret life of George ABC. 9 February 2021
  5. ↑ Academics: Peter Godwin Columbia School of International and Public affairs Archived 15 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Godwin, Peter (13 November 2008). "The Sea Inside". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  7. ↑ Weiss, Philip (27 June 2004). "A Cold Case". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Godwin, Peter (3 April 2007). "Showing Mugabe the Door". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  9. ↑ Godwin, Peter (24 June 2008). "Soccer 1, Mugabe 0". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Press Release". PEN American Center. 6 March 2012.
  11. ↑ "Kwame Anthony Appiah and Peter Godwin Read Poetry by Liu Xiaobo", PEN America, 20 March 2012
  12. ↑ "Member Roster". Council on Foreign Relations. 14 May 2012.
  13. ↑ "Fellows Roster". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 14 May 2012.
  14. 1 2 "You searched for | the Orwell Foundation".
  15. ↑ "Fellows Roster". The MacDowell Colony. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 26 May 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  16. ↑ Zug, James (20 March 2011). "Reign of terror". Boston.com. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Peter Godwin: Truth in black and white". The Independent. 9 March 2007. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010.
  18. ↑ "Where Dissidents Are the Prey, and Horror Is a Weapon". The New York Times. 23 May 2011.
  19. ↑ "A Journalist Bears Witness to Mugabe's Massacre". NPR. 30 March 2011.
  20. ↑ Pan Macmillan South Africa will publish Exit Wounds, the latest memoir by Peter Godwin. Pan Macmillan. 27 July 2023
  21. ↑ Profile of Joanna Coles, NYT, Nov. 2012
  22. ↑ When A Crocodile Eats the Sun, 2006
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