Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was a Dominion / Commonwealth realm). In 1966, the country became a republic and he became the first president as a result, ruling until his defeat in 1994.
The music of Malawi has historically been influenced by its triple cultural heritage of British, African, and American music. Malawians, known for their history as travelers and migrant workers, have contributed to the spread of their music across the African continent, blending it with various musical forms. A significant factor in this musical amalgamation was World War II, during which soldiers transported music to distant lands and brought it back, leading to the popularity of guitar and banjo duos as dance bands by the war's end. Both instruments were imported. Additionally, Malawians working in mines in South Africa and Mozambique influenced the fusion of music styles, giving rise to genres such as Kwela.
Zomba is a city in southern Malawi, in the Shire Highlands. It is the former capital city of Malawi.
Chewa is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix chi- is used for languages, so the language is usually referred to as Chichewa and Chinyanja. In Malawi, the name was officially changed from Chinyanja to Chichewa in 1968 at the insistence of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda, and this is still the name most commonly used in Malawi today. In Zambia, the language is generally known as Nyanja or Cinyanja/Chinyanja '(language) of the lake'.
The Tumbuka language is a Bantu language which is spoken in Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania. It is also known by the autonym Chitumbuka also spelled Citumbuka — the chi- prefix in front of Tumbuka means "in the manner of", and is understood in this case to mean "the language of the Tumbuka people". Tumbuka belongs to the same language group as Chewa and Sena.
Malawian English is the English language as spoken in Malawi. English is the country's official language.
The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, the largest is Chancellor College in Zomba. It is part of the Malawian government educational system. The last Vice-Chancellor was Professor John Kalenga Saka.
Yao is a Bantu language in Africa with approximately two million speakers in Malawi, and half a million each in Tanzania and Mozambique. There are also some speakers in Zambia. In Malawi, the main dialect is Mangochi, mostly spoken around Lake Malawi. In Mozambique, the main dialects are Makale and Massaninga. The language has also gone by several other names in English, including chiYao or ciYao, Achawa, Adsawa, Adsoa, Ajawa, Ayawa, Ayo, Ayao, Djao, Haiao, Hiao, Hyao, Jao, Veiao, and waJao.
Jack Mapanje is a Malawian writer and poet. He was the head of English at the Chancellor College, the main campus of the University of Malawi before being imprisoned in 1987 for his collection Of Chameleons and Gods, which indirectly criticized the administration of President Hastings Banda. He was released in 1991 and emigrated to the UK, where he worked as a teacher.
Malawi Lomwe, known as Elhomwe, is a dialect of the Lomwe language spoken in southeastern Malawi in parts such as Mulanje and Thyolo.
The Big Issue Malawi is a street paper in Malawi. It is a bimonthly magazine sold only by homeless individuals. The project's facilitator is a local charity known as the "Culture Awakening Society"
Steve Bernard Miles Chimombo was a Malawian writer, poet, editor and teacher. He was born in Zomba.
John Lloyd Chipembere Lwanda is a Malawian medical doctor, writer, poet, researcher, publisher, and music producer. He is a published author and also a publisher of books and music. He was an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow Department of Primary Care until 2005. Lwanda did his history and social science PhD at the University of Edinburgh's Centre of African Studies.
Mark Hanna Watkins was an Afro-American linguist and anthropologist. He was born in Huntsville, Texas, the youngest of fourteen children of a Baptist minister. He obtained a Bachelor of Science from Prairie View State College in 1926, remaining there for a further two years as assistant registrar. In 1929, he enrolled at the University of Chicago, where he became a pupil of Edward Sapir and wrote a Master's thesis entitled Terms of Relationship in Aboriginal Mexico (1930), dealing with seven genetically unrelated language groups: Otomian, Tarascan, Aztecan, Mixtecan, Zapotecan, Mixean, and Mayan.
Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga, also known as Ben Malunga, is a Malawian poet, writing in the Chichewa language. He is also a short-story writer, an essayist, a music composer, public speaker, and translator who has translated Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart into Chichewa under the title Chipasupasu. Malunga holds a bachelor's degree from Chancellor College of the University of Malawi (1986) and an MA from Manchester University (1996) in the UK. He is currently working as Registrar for the University of Malawi and Secretary of the University of Malawi Council.
Willie T. Zingani is a Malawian novelist, poet, playwright and journalist.
Boston Jaston Soko is a professor at Mzuzu University in the French section of the Faculty of Education's department of Languages and Literature. He has taught in several universities on French language and literature. He has written for over four decades on African literature in French language as well as in English. Prof. Soko is also a chairperson of the Ngoni cultural heritage association known as Mzimba Heritage Association. He coined the name for the Ngoni Cultural Festival which is called "uMthetho". The name was approved by the Executive and His Majesty Inkosi ya Makosi M'mbelwa IV in 2004. Professor Soko's work is much praised and appreciated for contributing to the promotion of the French language in the Republic of Malawi as well as promoting Malawian literature. He "has been very active in research in African Literatures, teaching the African novel of French expression, negritude poetry, and oral literature".
Malawi–Turkey relations are foreign relations between Malawi and Turkey. The Turkish ambassador in Lusaka, Zambia is also accredited to Malawi. Malawi is accredited to Turkey from its embassy in Berlin, Germany. Turkey has plans to open an embassy in Lilongwe.
Alfred (“Al”) D. Mtenje is a professor of Linguistics at the University of Malawi. He is known for his work on the prosody of Malawian Bantu languages, as well as for his work in support of language policies promoting the native languages of Malawi.
