The Mourning Bird
Zambia

The Mourning Bird

by Mubanga Kalimamukwento

Coming of Age Fiction 2019

Summary

Set in Zambia during the turbulent 1990s, The Mourning Bird follows eleven-year-old Chimuka and her younger brother, Ali, whose lives are shattered by a series of family tragedies. After their father dies and their mother’s struggle to keep the family together ends in further heartbreak, the siblings are left facing an uncertain future. Rejected by their abusive extended family, they escape to the streets of Lusaka, where survival means navigating poverty, violence, drugs, and police brutality.

As Chimuka grows into adolescence, she confronts the limited choices available to vulnerable girls in a society where poverty and gender inequality expose them to exploitation. Meanwhile, Ali becomes increasingly entangled in crime and addiction. Their struggle unfolds against a backdrop of political instability, economic decline, and the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on Zambian families.

Unflinching yet deeply compassionate, Kalimamukwento’s debut novel examines childhood, grief, and resilience while revealing the hidden suffering of those living on the margins of society. It is both an intimate story of two siblings fighting to survive and a portrait of a nation grappling with profound social upheaval.

Reviews

Login to leave a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first!

You might also like

Prodigal
Prodigal
Kayo Chingonyi
Patchwork
Patchwork
Ellen Banda-Aaku
Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is Another Way for Africa
Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is Another Way for Africa
Dambisa Moyo
Obligations to the Wounded
Obligations to the Wounded
Mubanga Kalimamukwento
Country
Zambia
Africa
About the author
Mubanga Kalimamukwento
Mubanga Kalimamukwento

Mubanga Kalimamukwento is a Zambian writer and attorney whose fiction explores social inequality, gender, family, and the experiences of people living on the margins of society. She gained recognition with her debut novel, The Mourning Bird (2019), which won the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award and was praised for its unflinching portrayal of vulnerable children growing up amid Zambia’s social and political turmoil. Kalimamukwento’s writing draws attention to the pressures placed on women and girls by cultural traditions, religious expectations, and unequal social structures. Her short fiction has appeared in international literary journals, and she has received several awards for her work. In 2024, she won the prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize for Obligations to the Wounded, becoming the first African writer to receive the award. Alongside her literary career, she serves as a fiction editor for Doek! and mentors writers through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.

View author page
Details
Published
2019
Author
Mubanga Kalimamukwento