Daryl Sahli

Daryl Sahli was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1960. He attended Hillside Junior School and Gifford High School in Bulawayo, before being conscripted for national service. Rhodesia was in the grip of a brutal civil war in the period 1970 to 1979. 'A Skirmish in Africa' is his first book, which is a story set at Victoria Falls in the late 1970s. The story explores the thoughts of both sides in the conflict, their fears and contradictions. Daryl has made every effort to give the reader the experience of close quarter counter-insurgency bush warfare, you can almost hear the bullets zipping overhead and the smell of frantan (napalm) in the air. He now lives in Brisbane, Australia with his wife and two children.

The Motivation

Well in my case, it was a combination of things. The most important driver was the need to try to educate my children on what it was like in Rhodesia during the war. As with most immigrant children they aren’t necessarily interested in the history of their parents and the majority are unlikely to pick up a history book to find out more. I decided that framing the ‘history’ in the form of a story might work better. I can say that it has. My daughter, in particular, who was nineteen at the time of publishing my first book, has made some interesting observations. The most telling for me was ‘you have lost your country and your roots!’ She enjoyed the book very much and, I guess, because of her age, she could identify with the young man in my story.

The sense of loss that I have felt since leaving Zimbabwe has haunted me for many years. Writing this book has helped me deal with this.

Another motivation is the fact that literature is the only way of preserving history and providing some perspective. Both fiction and non-fiction have their place. A number of historical accounts and biographies have been written on Rhodesia and Zimbabwe but relatively few novels. There are so many interesting aspects of the war and the circumstances surrounding it that lend themselves to stories. In my first book, I have focused more on the Soviet influence on Joshua Nkomo and ZIPRA. It is generally understood that the Soviet involvement with ZIPRA was extensive but the depth of their interest was much greater than certainly I knew. I have researched the subject extensively and have embodied this into one of my lead characters, Vladimir Benkov. I have tried to balance the story so as to describe the thoughts and motivations for both sides of the conflict. I have used a character, Tongerai Chabanga as a ZIPRA field commander, as a way of explaining the hardship and the pressure the freedom fighters endured.

We need to preserve our collective history, the good and the bad, for future generations. Literature is the key. I hope to make a small contribution and I truly hope that others will be motivated to tell their stories too.