Mubanga Kalimamukwento

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Mubanga Kalimamukwento (born 1988) [1] is a Zambian writer, known for her novel [2] The Mourning Bird, [3] which focuses on Zambia's AIDS crisis, and Obligations to the Wounded, her thematically linked collection of short stories centring the lives of Zambian women and girls. [4] The Mourning Bird was awarded the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award in 2018/2019. [5] In 2024, she became the first African writer [6] to win the Drue Heinz Prize for Literature. [7] In 2025, Obilgations to the Wounded won a Minnesota Book Award in the Novel & Short Story category [8] and was longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, an award focused on women writers. [9]

Contents

Obligations to the Wounded was also listed among The 75 best books of 2024 [10] by The Boston Globe, 100 Notable African Books of 2024 by Brittle Paper, a Notable Book From Africa in 2024 by Afrocritik. [11]

In 2025, Mubanga published her debut hybrid collection of poems and essays, Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies, [12] a finalist for the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics (CAAPP) Book Prize 2023. [13]

Early life and education

Mubanga was born in Lusaka, Zambia. She earned her bachelor's degree in Law from Cavendish University Zambia, [14] a master's degree in Law from the University of Minnesota, [15] and a master's degree in Fine Arts from Hamline University. [16] She is currently a PhD student in the department of Gender, Women, and Sexualities Studies at the University of Minnesota. [17]

Bibliography

Chapbooks

Novels

Collections

References

  1. "Mubanga Kalimamukwento". Pontas Agency. 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  2. theafricainstitute (2023-07-03). "The Africa Institute Announces Recipients for the 2023 Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship". theafricainstitute. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  3. Kalimamukwento, Mubanga (2019). The Mourning Bird. Jacana. ISBN   978-1-4314-2902-8.
  4. Thomas, Kelly (2024-01-30). "Drue Heinz Literature Prize Winner Explores Zambian Womanhood". University of Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  5. "[Sponsored] Mubanga Kalimamukwento wins Best Fiction at the 2020 CDI Zambia Tell Your Own Story National Book Awards". The Johannesburg Review of Books. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  6. Chiemeke, Jerry (2024-03-02). "Out Of Africa: Zambian Author Mubanga Kalimamukwento Wins 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize". The British Blacklist. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  7. "Mubanga Kalimamukwento won the 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, selected by Angie Cruz". University of Pittsburgh. 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  8. "Minnesota Book Awards Winners & Finalists - The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library". 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  9. "2025 Longlist". Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. Retrieved 2025-03-16.
  10. Flax, Shoshana; Flynn, Kitty; Gershowitz, Elissa; LeBlanc, Lauren; Mhute, Wadzanai; Vognar, Chris; Tuttle, Kate (2024-12-13). "The 75 best books of 2024". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  11. Afrocritik’s Editorial Board (2024-12-31). "Afrocritik's Notable Books From Africa in 2024" . Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  12. "Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies by Mubanga Kalimamukwento". www.wayfarerbookstore.com. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  13. "Request Rejected". www.caapp.pitt.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  14. "Mubanga Kalimamukwento". College of Liberal Arts. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  15. "Mubanga Kalimamukwento, LL.M. '20: Human Rights Advocate, Published Author". law.umn.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  16. "Kalimamukwento Wins Minnesota Book Award". www.hamline.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  17. "Mubanga Kalimamukwento". College of Liberal Arts. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  18. "mubangakalimamukwento.com - chapbooks". www.mubangakalimamukwento.com. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  19. Wozniak, Jim (2022-11-15). "Award-winning author from Zambia, recently honored by The Tusculum Review, to perform a reading on campus". Tusculum University News. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  20. "The Mourning Bird". Jacana. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  21. "announcing the winner of the 2024 dzanc prize for fiction". Dzanc Books. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  22. "Obligations to the Wounded". University of Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 2025-05-04.
  23. "Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies by Mubanga Kalimamukwento". www.wayfarerbookstore.com. Retrieved 2025-05-04.