This book explores the development and features of Malawian poetry of resistance, which arguably began with the establishment of the Malawi Writers Group in 1970 and thrived thereafter as a significant literary force in African literature from the 1980s to the 1990s. The groups employment of subversion, orality, and various other poetic techniques that mocked tyranny set apart their expressive styles and identities both in Africa and on a global scale. During Dr Hastings Kamuzu Bandas presidency, creative literature encountered censorship targeting works that were critical of the government. This resulted in the incarceration and coercion of writers who voiced concerns regarding the infringement of human rights. This study examines the literary works of Malawis second generation poets, who are also referred to as part of Africas third generation writers. Its objective is to present their work alongside the literary contributions of their contemporaries who have authored fiction, in addition to highlighting the promising endeavors of the younger generation of Malawian speculative fiction writers and artists. This initiative seeks to link the two generations to the oral tradition and the zeitgeist.
Chapter 1: Introduction.
Chapter 2: National Memory and Myth in the
poetry of Frank Chipasula, Stella Chipasula, Edison Mpina, Lupenga Mphande,
Steve Chimombo Jack Mapanje and Others.
Chapter 3: Tragic Vision and
Historical realism: A Discussion of Malawian poetry in Jack Mapanjes
Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing and other prison narratives by
Malawian poets during Dr Hastings Kamuzu Bandas reign as president.
Chapter
4: Aspects of futurism (Africanfuturism or African futurism) in Malawian
speculative fiction.
Chapter 5: The Depiction of Motherhood/Mother in
Malawian/Southern African literature: A Discussion of Symbols and Metaphors.-
Chapter 6: Celebrating the heritage that is your own: the importance of myth,
symbolism, and African history in the work of British/Malawian artist/writer,
Samson Kambalu.
Chapter 7: A Brief History of Malawi Literature and
Performance Arts and The Gulu Wam Kulu Dance Group (A Conversation between
Dike Okoro and Lupenga Mphande).
Chapter 8: Teaching African history through
literature: A Discussion context and content in the works of Paul Zeleza,
Jack Mapanje, Lupenga Mphande and Others.
Chapter 9: Malawian poetrys rich
oral tradition: Discussing the poetry of Jack Mapanje, Felix Mnthali, Steve
Chimimbo, Frank Chipasula, Zondiwe Mbano and Lupenga Mphande.
Chapter 10:
Lupenga Mphande: Autobiographical Poet of Thoza, Malawi.
Dike Okoro, Professor Emeritus, is formerly Chairperson of the Humanities Department at Harris Stowe State University. He is currently engaged in a two-year senior research fellow position with the Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation. His awards and recognition include a Newberry Scholar-in-Residence Award, and a Sam Walton Fellowship. He is the author of Futurism and the African Imagination: Literature and Other Arts (2021), Mazisi Kunene: Literature, Activism, and African Worldview (2023), and Lupenga Mphande: Ecocritical Poet/Political Activist (2020). He studied English and poetry, and obtained his MFA from Chicago State University and his PhD in English from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. He is also a literary critic/essayist and has edited anthologies of African poetry and short stories. He is the editor of We Have Cross Many Rivers: New Poetry from Africa, which was shortlisted by Human Rights Careers Magazine (UK) as one of 5 Vocal Human Rights Poetry Books inspiring change
