Kalemba Short Story Prize

25/09/2024

Literacy Day Short Story Competition Winners Announced

LUSAKA, September 24 — Winners of the inaugural Literacy Day Short Story Competition (LDSSC) have been announced by Mbozi Haimbe, Founder of Tushimo Literary Services.

The national competition was launched by a collaborative effort between Tushimo, Zambia Centre for Community Schools (ZCCS) and Commundo to celebrate and encourage creative writing among learners as part of the overall drive towards championing literacy in Zambia. There are two categories to the competition, these: Primary, Grades 5-7, and Secondary, Grades 8-12.

Children sent in their stories from schools in Lusaka, Mongu, Kafue, Kitwe and Choma, delighting the judging panel with their imagination and enthusiasm.

"Well done to all who participated and thank you to our judges, Marjorie M. Simuyuni, Sydney Muponda and Austin Kaluba. Thanks also goes to the LDSSC Committee, the link officers at ZCCS, the teachers from the participating schools, the parents who supported their children and our generous sponsors. This was truly a team effort, said Haimbe.

Hearty congratulations to the top three winners in each category:

Primary Category
First Prize: Laika Phiri, ‘All Things Big And Small’ - K300
Second Prize: Evans Kabanda, ‘Why Hyenas Fear Lions’ - K250
Third Prize: Teddy Zulu, ‘Lost In The City of Lusaka’ - K200

Secondary Category
First Prize: Justin Phiri, ‘The Whispers In The Wall,’ - K500
Second Prize: Lynn Pelekelo, ‘Fiends of The Night,’ - K400
Third Prize: Veronica Mudenda, ‘Ambitious Girl,’ - K350

Additionally, all winners will receive books and stationery and will have their stories published in an anthology in 2025, along with ten other shortlisted stories.

25/02/2024

Ubwali Bwapya! Zambia's newest and hottest Literary Magazine just launched - Ubwali!

Ba Kalemba, dig in for incredible story telling.

Ubwali has also launched The Hope Prize - find out how you can enter.

A literary magazine from Zambia.

02/02/2024

Mubanga Kalimamukwento wins the 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize

Drue Heinz Literature Prize Winner Explores Zambian Womanhood
Mubanga Kalimamukwento of Mounds View, MN, is the winner of the 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, one of the nation’s most prestigious prizes for a collection of short stories.

Kalimamukwento’s collection, Obligations to the Wounded, was selected by Angie Cruz. The University of Pittsburgh Press is pleased to publish this collection on October 8, 2024.

“These thematically linked stories deliver an intricate study of Zambian women living in both Zambia and abroad who are weighing their options of who to love, where to live, where to work,” states Angie Cruz, author of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water. “The author, with a poet’s restraint, has written stories that deftly negotiate the challenges and tribulations women face when they feel the pressure and duty to yield to the will of family, community, customs, country, and spiritual beliefs. Obligations to the Wounded graceful, touching and generous collection.”

Obligations to the Wounded employs proverbs and short stories rooted in Zambian languages, culture, and place to examine the cost of womanhood through the voices of twelve Zambian women and girls The stories converse with global social problems through games, social media feuds, letters, and folklore and illustrate women’s burdens through the lens of religious expectation, migration, loss of language, death, intimate partner violence and racial discrimination.

“An absolute dream come true to have been named this year’s winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, especially by a judge whose work I hold deep respect and admiration for,” shared Kalimamukwento. “This is a prize I have been reading and entering for years, so a win is a kind of ‘Finally’ and ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you’ moment for me.”

Mubanga Kalimamukwento is a Zambian attorney and writer. She is the winner the Tusculum Review Poetry Chapbook Contest (2022) selected by Carmen Giménez, the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award (2019), and the Kalemba Short Story Prize (2019). Her work has also appeared or is forthcoming in adda, Aster(ix), Overland, the Red Rock Review, Menelique, on and elsewhere.

The Drue Heinz Literature Prize recognizes and supports writers of short fiction. The award is open to authors who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals. Past winners include Stewart O’Nan, Elizabeth Graver, Caroline Kim, Leslie Pietrzyk, and Ramona Reeves.

Manuscripts are judged anonymously by nationally known writers. Past judges have included Robert Penn Warren, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, Deesha Philyaw, and Joan Didion. Jane McCafferty is the managing editor for the Drue Heinz Prize.

Winners receive a cash prize of $15,000, publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press, and support in the nation-wide promotion of their book.

Source: University of Pittsburgh Press

13/09/2023

Opportunity for female writers from the Museum of Women's History

Give it a go, even if it's to just go and experience the soft life of the Lower Zambezi.

But seriously, this looks like an amazing opportunity - get more information from the Museum of Women's History (don't ask us for details, read)

Deadline to apply: 15 September

13/09/2023

What are you reading Ba Kalemba?

Did you get a chance to read our 2023 winning story, Dark Motives?

Read it here and other five beautiful stories: http://kalemba-shortstory-prize.com/

01/09/2023

Sylvia Mbewe wins the 2023 Kalemba Short Story Prize

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA, September 1 – Sylvia Mbewe has been announced as the 2023 Kalemba Short Story Prize winner for her short story, described as “immersive, spellbinding and unapologetic” by Judges.

The USD1500 award is for the best work of original and unpublished short fiction written in English by a Zambian author.

Meanwhile, Up the Eucalyptus Tree by Mikha Mweetwa and No Strings Attached by Mukandi Siame emerged as run-ups.

Mbewe won for Dark Motives — a captivating classic story of a man trying to get rid of an extra-marital problem.

“Dingani turned his head to study her; her arms were folded across her chest – a defensive stance. Her lips were pouting in a petulant manner – defiance. Her forehead was creased in a scowl that brought her two big moles on either side of her nose bridge closer together – anger. She kept her eyes staring dead ahead, refusing to meet his eyes or acknowledge him.” Read the full story here: http://kalemba-shortstory-prize.com/

A graduate of Evelyn Hone College and radiographer by profession, Mbewe is an avid reader turned writer.

“Writing, for me, was nurtured out of my almost obsessive habit of reading books,” she says. “Eventually, I found myself transitioning from constantly reading to attempting to write my own stories.”

Mbewe almost didn’t submit her winning story. “I was in labour while concluding Dark Motives and racing to beat the clock to the deadline. I almost shelved it but persevered on it in the last minute.”

Winning the Kalemba Prize, she said “would truly be a monumental achievement and a highlight in my writing journey that I will proudly share with my eight-month-old baby in the years to come. It would not only open up exciting new opportunities but also boost my confidence as a writer, allowing me to pursue my passion with even greater determination and conviction.”

A native of Chingola, Mbewe, will be presented with the award at a special event in Lusaka later in September.

Her story beat five others to win the prize, including, in second place, Up the Eucalyptus Tree by Mikha Mweetwa and No Strings Attached (second run-up) by Mukandi Siame – both will receive USD500 each.

Other finalists are Animals by Mutale Chisulo, Don’t Forget to Remember by Birbal Boniface Musoba, and Glyn Mwiya’s The Guest.

A total of 242 stories competed for the 2023 Kalemba Prize, now in its fourth edition.

The judging panel, chaired by editor and writer Austin Kaluba, described the story as “dark as its name; immersive and unforgettable storytelling,” said the judges. “It is the classic story of a man trying to get rid of an extra-marital problem; however, the author tells it with fresh insights by utilizing the interiority of the characters. Speaking of characters, the author presents us with realistic, flawed individuals who unapologetically scheme to get what they want. The skillful plotting draws the reader to the grizzly twist at the end.

Kaluba was joined on the panel by award-winning writer Mbozi Haimbe — winner of the 2019 Commonwealth Short-Story Prize Africa Region for Madam’s Sister; Burundian writer and creative Lionel Ntasano and award-winning German-Zambian novelist —The Entitled, Chobela Ndilila.

The Kalemba Prize is a home-grown and funded initiative celebrating Zambian writing. The 2023 Prize has been generously supported by Mr. Justin Chinyanta, co-founder of the Loita Group.

The 2024 Kalemba Prize will open later in the year.

Join us on our vibrant Facebook and Twitter for updates.

31/08/2023

Tomorrow, 1 Sept, one of these writers will win the 2023 Kalemba Short-Story Prize for the best unpublished short fiction in English by a author.

Who will it be? is the $1500 question!

Thanks to 100s who have read their stories.

kalemba-shortstory-prize.com

29/08/2023

Don't go to bed without reading!

We highly recommend you relax with our uplifting stories from the 2023 Kalemba Shortlist.

We want to hear your views. Which one is your favourite story?

http://kalemba-shortstory-prize.com

28/08/2023

The Guest by Glyn Mwiya

Enjoy the best of Zambian short fiction, compliments of the Kalemba Short Story Prize.

http://kalemba-shortstory-prize.com

28/08/2023

Don't Forget to Remember by Birbal Boniface Musoba

Enjoy the best of Zambian short fiction, compliments of the Kalemba Short Story Prize.

http://kalemba-shortstory-prize.com

28/08/2023

Dark Motives by Sylvia Mbewe

Enjoy the best of Zambian short fiction, compliments of the Kalemba Short Story Prize.

http://kalemba-shortstory-prize.com

28/08/2023

Animals by Mutale Chisulo

Enjoy the best of Zambian short fiction, compliments of the
Kalemba Short Story Prize.