The woman on the 200 Kwacha note tells her story in Lomathinda: Rose Chibambo Speaks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The woman on the 200 Kwacha note tells her story in Lomathinda: Rose Chibambo Speaks
Lilongwe, Malawi (20 November 2019) – Rose Chibambo changed the course of Malawi’s history. In the forthcoming publication, Lomathinda: Rose Chibambo Speaks published by Logos Open Culture in December 2019, Chibambo shares her life story, from surviving a difficult birth to forging a women’s movement.
In a series of intimate conversations with Malawian scholar Timwa Lipenga, Chibambo traces the origins of her family, her culture, her commitment to building a post-colonial nation—and the heavy price she paid for it. Lipenga set out to interview Chibambo as part of a project focussed on untold stories of Malawian women. Lipenga said, “The more I read about Rose Chibambo, the more I was stunned that I had not come across her name even though I studied Malawian history as an undergraduate. Who was she?”
To situate the first book ever written about Chibambo’s life, Lipenga carefully and creatively provides additional context on the history, culture and society of Malawi through speeches, songs, and newspaper articles. Recollections from Chibambo’s children, including one daughter who was imprisoned with Chibambo, and archival photographs bring to life the struggle for an independent Malawi.
This is the debut book by Lipenga, a lecturer at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College. Two of Lipenga’s stories, ‘Swimming Partners’ and ‘Duty’ have been published in African Road: New Writing from Southern African (PEN South Africa, 2006) and in The Daily Assortment of Astonishing Things: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2016 (Interlink Books, 2016). Before becoming a lecturer, she was a features writer and sub-editor for the Nation Publications. Lipenga is also director of Makewana’s Daughters, a forum that encourages Malawian women to write short stories and poems.
Logos Open Culture is a start-up with a vision to amplify Malawi’s story. It brings together traditional methods like book and film production with solid research, technology and data science to create and sell well-researched content that celebrates Malawi’s rich diversity. At present, production of a documentary feature film about John Chilembwe is underway and the bestselling book Malawi – A Place Apart written by Asbjorn Eidhammer, published by Logos Open Culture in 2017, is in its second print run. Together with the National Archives of Malawi, Logos Open Culture is exploring ways in which to digitally preserve Malawi’s memory.
Lomathinda: Rose Chibambo Speaks will be available online and in bookshops across Malawi from mid-December 2019.
The book will be published with support from the Embassy of Switzerland to Malawi.
For enquiries, please contact the publisher, Muti Michael Etter-Phoya (+265 996 376 788, muti@logosmw.org, https://www.logosmw.org/).
Image: Self-government legislative assembly, ca. 1961. Chibambo, first row, fourth from right, Malawi National Records & Archives Services, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34386369
