Ruth Hartley

Freed from the obligations of raising a family and earning a living, I have been a lifelong writer and artist, giving full rein to my creativity. Born into a British colonial background in Zimbabwe, I have spent over half of my life in Africa. After taking a degree in Fine Art in Cape Town I was forced to flee South African apartheid laws and lived briefly in Britain before returning to Zambia where I remained for 22 years and was Director of the Mpapa Gallery – the first art gallery to feature Zambian artists – in Lusaka. Returning to Britain I taught overseas students before settling in France. I have travelled widely and am of many countries and none. Always a semi-outsider wherever I have lived, I nevertheless have committed myself to the community wherever I have been.

Strong and deep emotions imbue my work, I hope I am nevertheless compassionate and empathise with those characters whose values I do not necessarily share.

I have published two novels, “The Shaping of Water”, published in 2014, a tale about three couples embroiled in the liberation wars of the 1960s to ‘80s and “The Tin Heart Gold Mine” a story of love, politics and betrayal. I am publishing another novel this year, “The Love and Wisdom Crimes” which is loosely based on my memoir, “When I Was Bad”. My third book of the year will be a volume of poetry.

In my writing I combine the detachment of an outsider with the insight of someone who has lived the life I write about. But my work is not autobiographical. The situations I vividly describe are those I have witnessed. But the people who participate in them are fictional, although based in the truth I have seen. I may be a little unconventional, as my life-story bears witness, but my opinions never intrude. My stories tell themselves.