Hello, welcome to BBC World Book Club,
where you get to talk about their work with the world's most interesting authors.
I'm your host, Harriet Gilbert,
and with us today is the Tanzanian-born Nobel laureate, Abdul Razak Gwana.
He's here to answer your questions about his novel Paradise, the harsh,
beautiful, thought-provoking story of a teenage boy called Yusuf,
pawned by his father to pay a debt,
who finds himself thrown into the complex world of early 20th century East Africa.
Abdul Razak,
welcome to World Book Club and congratulations a bit later in the day on becoming a Nobel laureate in literature.
Thank you very much.
One of the benefits of being a Nobel laureate is I gather that Paradise has now been translated into your mother tongue,
into Swahili.
Yes, that's right.
In fact, so has the new book, Theft.
I actually managed to hold a copy of it yesterday.
I think they're publishing it sometime in May.
Excellent.
Well, the book we're going to be talking about today is your fourth novel, Paradise.
which was shortlisted for the Booker and Whitbeck Prizes, is loved by readers,