A portrait of Tsitsi Dangarembga at her home in Harare. (Cynthia R. Matonhodze) The last week of July 2020 was one of extreme paradoxes for Tsitsi Dangarembga. Three days after her novel This Mournable Body was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, the Zimbabwean writer, playwright and filmmaker found herself in prison after her arrest in Harare. Dangarembga, part of a two-women protest, was standing next to a highway, silently holding a placard protesting against state corruption and the imprisonment of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono. Dangarembga and her friend, Julie Barnes, were charged with incitement to participate in public violence and breaching anti-coronavirus regulations, even though they wore masks and maintained a sizable distance from each other. Dangarembga was released on bail after a night in jail. With the charges still pending against her despite an international outcry against her arrest, the writer received the PEN International Award for Freedom of Expression in January 2021. An international advocacy group concerned with the safety and freedom of expression of writers, PEN awarded the prize for Dangarembga’s “brave work as a writer, filmmaker and activist”, in response to her arrest.