WhatsApp novelists use messaging app to write and sell books in Zimbabwe

Emerging authors and eager readers are finding more accessible and affordable ways to get their literary fix.

Harare, Zimbabwe – Sitting on a plastic chair, Kingston Dhewa stares intently at his smartphone, his thumbs jabbing furiously at the screen.

He stops briefly and looks up to attend to a customer at his outdoor fruit and vegetable stall in Budiriro 5, a busy, low-income suburb south of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare.

When the customer leaves, he grabs his phone and resumes typing in a Google Doc.

It’s around midday and the sun blazes mercilessly. Next to him, an elderly woman throws heaps of peeled and neatly cut potatoes into a gas fryer.

Loud local gospel music blasts from a solar-powered radio.