Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers Fellow Mubanga Kalimamukwento Awarded Morland African Writing Scholarship

Mubanga Kalimamukwento, a Zambian storyteller and lawyer, has been awarded the Morland African Writing Scholarship, a prestigious grant that supports African writers to work on a book-length project. She is the first Zambian writer to receive this honor, and one of four recipients chosen from over 500 applicants.

Kalimamukwento is an award-winning author, known for her debut novel The Mourning Bird, which won the 2019 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the 2020 Barry Ronge Fiction Prize. Her remarkable writing has garnered prestigious recognition and has been published in esteemed literary outlets, such as The Johannesburg Review of Books, The Missing Slate, Wasafiri, and The Best of Africa. Kalimamukwento also contributes to the literary community as a fiction editor and mentor and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Creative Writing at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Kalimamukwento is also the awardee for the 2023 Tejumola Olaniyan Creative Writers-in-Residence Fellowship at The Africa Institute. The fellowship, named after the late Nigerian scholar and critic Tejumola Olaniyan, offers a three-month residency for African writers to work on their creative projects and engage with the academic community at The Africa Institute.

The Morland African Writing Scholarship, established in 2013 by the Miles Morland Foundation (MMF), is an annual grant of £18,000 for each scholar, paid monthly over the course of one year. The scholars are expected to produce a complete book of at least 80,000 words during the period of the grant. The MMF also offers mentoring, networking, and editorial support for the scholars.

For the Morland African Writing Scholarship, Kalimamukwento’s book project uses humorous oral storytelling techniques to paint the intimate lives of characters facing unimaginable challenges during the AIDS epidemic in Zambia. She hopes to complete the manuscript by the end of 2024.

Miles Morland, the founder of the MMF, said in a press release, “This year’s winners rank with the best of them. They are a diverse group with very different but very African themes. One thing I have missed in previous years has been humour, the wit which is such a big part of life in Africa. I’m delighted that this year we will be seeing that. The judges, Muthoni Garland, in the chair, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, and Chuma Nwokolo, were impressed by the overall standard of the short list but felt that on the submissions, these four stood out. I’m delighted to welcome them to the MMF family. They will make us proud.”

The MMF’s main aim is to support entities in Africa which enable Africans to get their voices heard. It is particularly interested in supporting African writing and African literature.

Salah M. Hassan, Director of The Africa Institute said, “Heartfelt congratulations for such a prestigious award, which is very well deserved. We are very proud of you here at the institute. It is of course worth the celebration. With very best wishes for the very bright future to come.”

Binyam Sisay Mendisu, Associate Director of The Africa Institute said, “Congratulations on being awarded the prestigious Morland African Writing scholarship! This is a testimony of the remarkable and first-class creative work that you are doing, and those of us at The Africa Institute are proud to have you amongst us for three months and closely learn about your work.”