Mubanga Kalimamukwento Wins the 2024 Dzanc Prize for Fiction
Dzanc Books has announced Zambian author Mubanga Kalimamukwento as the 2024 Dzanc Prize for Fiction Winner.
The author impressed the judges with her compelling narrative, which intricately explores themes of intimate violence, betrayal, and resilience within patriarchal societies. Intertwined with tenderness and moments of hope, the novel showcases Kalimamukwento’s ability to craft characters and stories that resonate deeply with readers.
Set in Zambia, Shipikisha tells the story of Sali, a working mother of three on trial for the murder of her husband, Kasunga. She allegedly shot him after a heated fight in their bedroom. Through a braided narrative woven both before and during the trial, Sali navigates her husband’s infidelities and alcohol-filled nights, their money troubles, her postnatal depression, raising her teenage daughter Ntashé, and an attempted abortion in silence. Until the day her marriage finally fails to endure—shipikisha, considered the ultimate dereliction of wifely duty in Zambia. Until the day she speaks her mind, and Kasunga puts a gun in her face.
Three celebrated Dzanc Books authors—Farah Ali (The River, The Town), Chika Unigwe (The Middle Daughter), and Sarah Yahm (Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation and last year’s Prize for Fiction winner)—judged the manuscript, selecting it from a pool of hundreds of submissions.
Kalimamukwento is a Zambian attorney, editor and writer. She is the author of The Mourning Bird , unmarked graves , Obligations to the Wounded and Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies She is the founding editor of Ubwali Literary Magazine, a current Miles Morland Scholar and a PhD student and Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) scholar at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Earlier this year, she also won the prestigious 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize for her short story collection, Obligations to the Wounded. She also won the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award in 2019.
Kalimamukwento’s work highlights significant issues affecting communities, particularly in African contexts while offering universally relatable themes. The Dzanc Prize for Fiction, which supports innovative and socially impactful writing, is awarded annually to a writer whose project demonstrates unique potential. As the 2024 recipient, Kalimamukwento will receive a cash prize and a publishing contract with Dzanc Books, further solidifying her position as a powerful voice in contemporary literature. Dzanc Books will publish Shipikisha, Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s award-winning novel, in March 2026.
Congratulations to Mubanga Kalimamukwento.
