Agatha Zaza
Author Interview - Agatha Zaza
Author of The Pretenders
Jasper’s older brother Edmund has always reliable. He’s been there for his little brother even in the worst of times. It’s only natural that the day after their engagement, Jasper and bride-to-be Holly decide to surprise Edmund with a celebratory visit.
John, Jasper’s best friend comes along. Of course he would, fun loving and devoted to his friend, he wouldn’t think of missing such an occasion. Anne, John’s wife joins them - because she is John’s wife and Jasper is a huge part of her life.
Edmund and Ovidia aren’t expecting visitors, but they can’t exactly say no when Jasper, Holly, Anne and John walk into their London mansion one Saturday morning in spring.
Ovidia is not supposed to be there.
Perhaps Edmund is not as reliable as Jasper believed. Maybe John doesn’t know everything about his best friend?
Today might be the day they all have to face the consequences of the lies they’ve told themselves
Author Interview - Agatha Zaza
Author I draw inspiration from:
Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Leïla Slimani inspire me not just for their writing but because they are also incredible women to listen to. I listen to interviews with them, listen to them talking about their writing, how they see the world and their thought processes. This reminds me that being a good writer is not about fulfilling a trend or following a formula as many people would like us to think. I particularly loved Half of a Yellow Sun (Adichie), The Nanny (Slimani) and The Wolf Hunt (Gundar-Goshen).
Author Interview - Agatha Zaza | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
My sofa.
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I was living in Singapore at the time. I was working part time and my son was in daycare. I had the time, not just to write but to dream. Before that I used to write short stories but I’d never really believed that I could write a novel and get it published. Part of my impetus was reading about Sadie Jones who was in her late thirties when she published her first novel. I realised I didn’t have to be a young genius that wrote complex literary fiction in order to call myself an author.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I have no preference between hard and paperbacks. I buy many of my books second hand or on sale - cost is usually the deciding factor. However, I tend to avoid ebooks because reading is an opportunity to get away from my devices. I will use ebooks when I can’t get a certain title.
The last book I read:
Heart the Lover by Lily King. It was as good as everyone said it was. I’ve been reading a lot of literary romance recently and I love her style. It is a reminder (again) that writing isn’t about formulas. I was left slightly annoyed because I couldn't resolve her ending with the one I wanted myself, which is a good sign because I believe a good book leaves you thinking.
Author Interview - Agatha Zaza | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
My writing process is in a word, haphazard. I’m sure I could be more efficient, but perhaps because writing is mostly a hobby. I start, stop, start something else, scribble things on bits of paper and completely forget my last wonderful plot twist. I get to the end eventually.
I use both pen and paper and computer. My handbag is usually stuffed full of pieces of paper, because I remembered something as I was in the veg section at the supermarket.
I’ve come to understand that the reason it takes so long to write a novel is that it’s a process, it’s not about outcomes. I’m still not in it to be a well-fed author, my writing is about the scraps of paper and half -finished stories. That’s what I enjoy most. Getting to the end is a pleasant extra.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
James, a character in my novel The English Speakers to be released in July. He’s actually me in disguise, so he’d forgive my peculiarities. He’s an immigrant struggling with some of the same issues I do around language and building relationships, but he has very firmly decided that Finland is home.
Author Interview - Agatha Zaza | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I have a professional persona – I’m a grants and development specialist and I’ve been in non-governmental organisations for over twenty-five years. I work for an organisation called Global Fund for Widows and what of the things I like about it is that, comparatively, so few people know about and work with widows and discrimination. I get to feel like an educator as well, the question “what do you do?” always has to be followed with an explanation of “why widows?”
I’d like to know more and do more in my field, it’s exciting and challenging enough that it keeps me busy.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I don’t particularly have one. I like short skirts so I’d say the sixties. It was a period in which fashion reflected social and political change – more freedom and more confidence, but also greater conflict and fluctuations of power between the ordinary citizen and their leaders.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I still haven’t made it to Oulu a city in central Finland which is even this years’ European capital of culture. It looks exciting but it’s really far away from Helsinki. I’d like to know more about Finland, to visit more of its smaller towns and cities. I tend to visit those places most accessible to Helsinki.
Internationally, I would like to go to Paris but I’m afraid of being disappointed by it. It has such a reputation, it has mystique, romance, adventure. I don’t want to get there to find it’s queues and tourist versions of local food.
My signature drink:
A nice glass of red wine. Nothing too cheap or too expensive – Shiraz especially.
Favorite artist:
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. I could sight of a poster at Stockholm’s national gallery and I was immediately taken by her work. The poster I have is a very simple pose, a man in a white short with eyes cast down. His expression is inscrutable and despite the picture’s apparent simplicity it has energy and conveys emotion as if he’s hiding something.
Number one on my bucket list:
I’d like to write a romance. Preferably set in sunny holiday location – lots of hibiscus and balconies overlooking the see. It’s something that scares me because every time I’ve tried my tendency to cynicism ruins everything, a big knife comes out and someone’s murdered (in the manuscript) and then I give up.
I’d also like to go to a book or authors festival in England, the kind where you half expect a murder to take place and DCI Barnaby from Midsommer Murders shows up to save the day.
Find more from the author:
@agathazaza (IG)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwila-agatha-zaza-a8b85915/
About Agatha Zaza:
Agatha Zaza
Mwila Agatha Zaza is a Zambian-Finnish author and development professional currently
living in Helsinki, Finland. Her second novel, The English Speakers, set in Helsinki, will be released in July 2026.
Mwila Agatha has spent most of her career in fundraising and communications in the
international development sector. She has lived and worked in Ireland, the former Soviet
Union and New Zealand. She holds a Master’s in Equality Studies from University College
Dublin.
Her writing has appeared in The Johannesburg Review of Books and she was an Ubwali
Literary Magazine Hope Prize Finalist.
