The Hope Prize is an annual award presented by Ubwali Literary Magazine. It recognizes Zambian writers of prose and poetry featured in the magazine.

One winner will receive an honorarium of $500 and will be featured in the fall issue of Shenandoah. One runner-up will receive a six-month virtual mentorship from a writer in their genre. Another runner-up will have the opportunity to attend a class offered by Caine Prize–winning writer Makena Onjerika. The winner will be announced in June.

As part of the Ubwali Hope Prize Interview Series, we sit with each of the six shortlisted writers. They talk about their journey, the work that earned them a spot on the list, and the process behind their craft.

In this conversation, we speak with Isaac Kanyinji, a Zambian poet and short story writer. His work has been published both online and in print publications.

Isaac Kanyinji was shortlisted for his poem, A 2019 Survey on How People Imagine Themselves Dying.

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Hello Isaac, Congratulations on being shortlisted for the Ubwali Hope Prize.  Could you briefly introduce yourself and share how your journey as a writer began? Was there a particular moment or experience that nudged you towards storytelling?

Isaac Kanyinji is a Zambian poet and short story writer. His work has been published both online and in print publications including Publish’d Afrika, Salamander Ink Mag and Poemify. Outside writing, he is a radio host and an avid reader of fiction.

My path to starting to write is littered with a myriad of tiny acts which I believe ended up deflecting my compass in the direction of being a writer: the bedtime stories and the bookshelf in the corner of my grandfather’s bedroom being just a few things among the many. I should also admit that while the aforementioned things contributed, they did not straight away get me writing. Instead, it was reading Jacob Nkosini Zulu’s ‘Mwai Wanga’  in 9th grade that ultimately made me want to write. I started almost as soon as I finished reading his book and have been writing since

 

A 2019 Survey on How People Imagine Themselves Dying is such a carefully crafted poem. It took me right back to the uncertainty and reflection that marked the early days of the pandemic. How long did it take to write this piece, and did the emotional weight of the theme affect your process in any way?

I would not be entirely accurate if I tried to mention the exact amount of time that went into the writing of ‘A 2019 Survey on How People Imagine Themselves Dying”. This is not only true to this poem but to many other pieces I have written. This particular poem for example was in the vault for a long time and in-between the time of commencement of its writing to its submission, a couple of revisits were made and that makes it difficult to append a precise amount of time that went into the creation.

Did the emotional weight of the theme affect me? Yes it did.

When I started to write ‘A 2019 Survey on How People Imagine Themselves Dying’, it was meant to be a single poem but the process of creating it steered me in a whole different direction. Somewhere along the way, I realized there was so much both inside and around me that had changed due to the pandemic: the distance that grew between the families, our fears, you mention it. Out of that, I ended up creating more than I had set out to. I ended up creating a collection of poems. I would say that’s poetry being what it has always been to me: a medium of expression. But sometimes I just never know how much is unsaid within me until I get a blank piece of paper.

I’m curious about how the pandemic affected your writing in general. Were there things you did differently before the pandemic that have shifted in your creative process or themes since then?

The most notable change since the pandemic has been my approach to certain themes. It’s not every time that we write from first-hand experience as writers and this means having to write from a spectator’s point of view sometimes. Living through the pandemic gave me a closer feel of certain themes around which I write and I believe I wouldn’t have been able to capture certain feelings hadn’t the pandemic happened. 

 

What does being shortlisted for the Ubwali Hope Prize mean to you personally and as a writer? 

As a writer, making the shortlist has been a pat on my shoulder. I submitted my work with the primary intention of finding it a home (which it did) and so when I got news I had made the shortlist, it was motivation to reach for more. Personally, making the shortlist was a proud moment I should say. I have always been in love with writing and getting recognition for doing what I love is just a beautiful feeling.

The way you weaved the imagery in A 2019 Survey on How People Imagine Themselves Dying,  especially the bold play on Jonah and the big fish, stood out. Could you walk us through your writing process? Do certain images or references arrive first, or do they emerge as the poem forms?

My personal nature, I should mention, has such a huge bearing on my approach to writing. I love to question things and that makes me highly experimental. To that effect, I do not have a specific writing routine that gets me to arrive at completed writings. More often than not, the poem steers itself in the direction it wants and I just happen to find the images coming to me deep into the creating process.

 

Writers often begin as readers, and reading continues to shape their voice. Which books or authors have left a lasting impact on you, and are there any you return to often?

My reading preference oscillates between poetry and fiction. I suppose this is so because poetry and fiction are the genres in which I write.

On the fiction side, Khaled Hosseini, Mongo Beti, and Senegal’s Sembene Ousmane are my favourites. If you asked my younger self, I would have said they are the people I want to write like. But overtime, with repeated visits to their works, I have realized it’s impossible to replicate them. They are the type of authors that only happen once. On the poetry end, I mostly read Ocean Voung and Malawi’s Jack Mapanje. That is not it though; I also read a lot of inspiring young voices from across the continent as well as here at home. 

 

Read: Important Advice from Six Poets

 

Are there any projects you’re currently working on—writing or otherwise—that you’re excited about?

I am currently working on something that I intend to be my debut. A collection of poems? A collection of short fiction? We’ll see. I still cannot tell which side of me will debut first but because I was first read as a poet, I have an inclination to it.

 

What advice would you give emerging writers, especially poets, navigating the evolving landscape of African literature today, especially those who may feel unseen or uncertain?

Every so often I get asked this question, I try to find a response that will sound longer than my usual answer but I fail to. I will share the same words I have always shared then: Keep writing and believe in the craft you are creating.

 

Congratulations once again on being shortlisted for the Ubwali Hope Prize. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. We’re looking forward to all your projects in the near and far future.