To Keep for Tomorrow: Lessons in Generosity

Mubanga Kalimamukwento | Editor-in-chief

Ku fa mutu ha ki ku sinya kono ki ku bulukela kwa pili.

Giving is not losing; it is keeping for tomorrow.

Lozi Proverb.

* Image by Liana S on unsplash

Dear Ubwali reader,

It’s been three months since our last issue––the blink of an eye. Between then and now, our team has shrunk and then expanded. We were sad to bid farewell to our capable Fiction Editor, Mbozi Haimbe, who, during our first year, handled the fiction writers and the stories they gifted us with a care I could not have crafted into any contract, even if I had been the most masterful of wordsmiths. Under her stewardship, stories were listed as Notable Fiction and Nonfiction by African Writers in the First Quarter of 2024 by ìtànilé, shortlisted for the Ubwali Hope Prize, and included in our first submissions to prizes like Best of the Net and Pushcart. Our entire team and the authors she nurtured were so lucky to have her, and we look forward to witnessing her inevitable flourish as both a writer and editor.

With Mbozi’s departure, though, we were left with a cavity—something new and, at least for me, something frightening. 

Passion sparked this project, yes, but the scaffolding involves many people who gift their time and talent to keep it alive. 

I am in awe and grateful, and use this gratitude as a light each time I craft another one of these notes.

In the opening proverb, the speaker reframes giving not as a representation of loss but as a promise of something more. As proverbs are, the meaning of this one is reader-dependent. For me, this is where the truth lies–before starting Ubwali, indeed, before it was ever an idea, I spent years broadening my literary citizenship, especially through reading other people’s work and lauding them where I could. The years I spent offering time and attention continue to bring unexpected returns. For Ubwali right now, that means expanding our team. In April, we welcomed Vuma Phiri as the new Poetry Editor and Mali Kambandu as the new Fiction Editor. Both Vuma and Mali bring a wealth of editorial experience from within the continent and beyond. We also have a new social media manager and will be announcing a copy editor soon! Their presence continues to affirm my belief in community, and I am, as always, appreciative of the home this community provides not just for me, but for the authors whose work we publish. 

This issue, too—the second of our Africa Day issues—has expanded our writer profile exponentially. This year, we have, in addition to Zambian authors and photographers, artists from Nigeria, Kenya, South Sudan, and South Africa, and, for the first time, Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The issue includes six fiction pieces and our first novel excerpt, translated by the author from Arabic. Four essays—the most we have ever published in a single issue—feature alongside twelve phenomenal poets. The issue closes off with three portfolios by emerging and established photographers.

For many of us, the world is a rock and a hard place right now. We take our joys where we can find them. It can be difficult to see beyond caring for oneself and surviving through secret battles to also give. Yet art continues—quietly, steadfastly—to give and to save. As with previous issues, my team and I gave a lot of time, but we were also gifted so much. We were able to accept so many pieces for the first time because of continued donations to our Author Fund on PayPal. The editors who joined our team at short notice bring fresh energy and offer new ways to shape the work into its most beautiful iterations. The artists trusted us with their imaginations. They listened to our questions and answered in revisions.

The work, like the world right now, is difficult, yes. The hours—days, even—can slip by like mere seconds while we review line after line, image after image, to ensure a product that we and the authors can be proud of. But the time is not lost, because the issue, in my modest view, is quite stunning, and I am so honoured to be the editor introducing you to it.

Ubwali is served!

Mubanga