Jack Mapanje in 2011. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy English PEN.
| Jack Mapanje | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1944 Kadango Village, Mangochi District, Malawi |
| Residence | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Malawian |
| Ethnicity | Nyanja/Yao |
| Occupation | professor, author |
| Known for | poetry, 1987-1991 imprisonment |
| Awards |
Rotterdam Poetry International Award (1988) PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award (1990) |
Jack Mapanje (born 1944) is a Malawian poet, academic, editor, and human rights activist. He was the head of English at the University of Malawi before being imprisoned in 1987 for his collection Of Chameleons and Gods, which indirectly criticized the administration of President Hastings Banda. He was released in 1991 and emigrated to the UK, where he worked as a teacher.
Life[]
Youth[]
The child of Nyanja and Yao parents, Mapanje was born in Kadango Village, Mangochi District, Malawi. He received a B.A. in education from the University of London, and worked for a time as a lecturer in Malawi before returning to the United Kingdom to study linguistics at University College, London in the early 1980s.[1]
He later became head of the Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Malawi.[2]
Imprisonment[]
During the rule of President Hastings Banda, Mapanje was jailed without charge in 1987, apparently for publishing his poem collection Of Chameleons and Gods.[3][4] The collection obliquely criticized Banda's government, and the 'chameleon' of the title refers to the disguise of personal voice Mapanje deemed necessary in order to mount a criticism of the politics at the time.[5] The book received no official ban, but was "withdrawn from circulation".[4] Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience and campaigned for his release.[6] Its protests included a reading of selections from Of Chameleons and Gods outside the Malawian High Commission in London by UK Nobel laureate Harold Pinter.[7] Mapanje was also awarded the 1990 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award during his imprisonment, which carried a US$3,000 cash award. PEN's president, US novelist Larry McMurtry, stated that "the point [of the award] is to generate enough heat so Mapanje gets out of jail".[2] Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and UK playwright Ronald Harwood also campaigned for his release.[8]
Mapanje was held for three-and-a-half years before being released in 1991.[4] After his release, he was told he needed to reapply for his previous professorship at the University of Malawi. After a lengthy delay in his application, he instead emigrated to the UK.[4] He later wrote a memoir about the experience, And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night,[6] which was also adapted into a play.[8]
Exile[]
After arriving in the UK, Mapanje was awarded a fellowship at York University. He later became a visiting professor at Leeds University. He also taught creative writing in prisons.[3]
In 1994, he returned to Malawi with BBC2 to make a documentary.[3]
Recognition[]
- 1988 Rotterdam Poetry International Award
- 1990 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award
- 2002 African Literature Association (USA) Fonlon-Nichols Award
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Of Chameleons and Gods. London & Exeter, NH: Heinemann, 1981.
- The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison. Oxford, UK, & Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1993.
- Skipping Without Ropes. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 1998.
- The Last of the Sweet Bananas: New and selected poems. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2004.
- Beasts of Nalunga. Tarset, Northumberland, UK: Bloodaxe, 2007.
Non-fiction[]
- And Crocodiles are Hungry at Night: A memoir. Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK: Ayebia Clarke / [London] : Arts Council England, 2011; London: James Currey, 2011.
Edited[]
- Oral Poetry from Africa: An anthology (edited with Landeg White). Harlow, UK, & New York: Longman, 1983.
- Gathering Seaweed: African prison writing. London & Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[9]
Jack Mapanje - The Note on Returning Home
Audio / video[]
- Jack Mapanje: Reading from his poems. London: Poetry Archive, 2005.[9]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ "2002: Jack Mapanje". Fonlon-Nicholas Award. http://www.fonlon-nichols.org/2004/07/strong2002_jack.html#more. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Susan Heller Anderson (30 March 1990). "Chronicle". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/30/style/chronicle-876590.html. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Adrian Turpin (7 November 1995). "'I had never come to a Western country before. It is good for my writing'". The Guardian. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/i-had-never-come-to-a-western-country-before-it-is-good-for-my-writing-1580734.html. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Poetic injustice". The Economist. 9 October 1997. http://www.economist.com/node/102526. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ↑ Mapanje, Jack (1981). Of Chameleons and Gods. Johannesburg: Heinemann. p. vii. ISBN 0-435-91194-5.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night - a memoir by Jack Mapanje". Amnesty International. 2011. http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_details_p.asp?EventsID=1985. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ↑ Vail, Leroy; Landeg White (1991). Power and the Praise Poem: Southern African Voices in History. University of Virginia Press. pp. 278–285.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mark Cook, Lyn Gardner & Judith Mackrell (27 July 2012). "This week's new theatre & dance". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/jul/28/and-crocodiles-are-hungry-night?newsfeed=true. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Search results = au:Jack Mapanje, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 8, 2014.
External links[]
- Poems
- On Banning of 'Chameleons and Gods'"
- Three poems at African Writing Online
- Jack Mapanje b. 1944 at the Poetry Foundation
- Audio / video
- About
- Jack Mapanje at the British Council
- Jacl Mapanje, Malawi at Amnesty International
- Jack Mapanje Official website.
- Rhyme and treason: interview with Mapanje at The Guardian, 2007
- "Orality and subversion in Jack Mapanje's Of Chameleons and Gods", International Fiction Review
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