ZAMBIA'S LITERARY LEGEND- Stephen A. Mpashi

We ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’. Pioneers who defy odds to show the world that there is nothing impossible or too hard if you put your heart and mind to it.  The late Stephen Andrea Mpashi (1923-1998) is a literary legend. His great works continue to speak about his strength and giftedness in the use of the oral narrative. His writing career started in the 1950s and Mpashi is one of the founding fathers of creative writing in Zambia. Between 1950 and 1978, this legendary writer penned both prose and poetry. The originality and authenticity in his creative purpose have made his work relevant to this day. He wrote in his mother tongue, Chi Bemba, a language that is widely spoken in Northern, Muchinga, Luapula, Copperbelt, Central and Lusaka provinces. This represents a large audience. Mpashi was born in northern Zambia and did his education at Lubushi Major Seminary in Kasama, after which he proceeded to the University of Exeter in England, where he studied Creative Writing. His feats were not restricted to pen and paper because Mpashi is said to have joined the Northern Rhodesian army and fought in the Second World War. He shared his military experience in a book he titled, ‘Cekesoni aingila ubu soja’ published in 1950.

After the war he taught at Central School in Luanshya, a mining town on the Copperbelt Province. By the time he was 45 years old, Mpashi retired early from the teaching service and settled in Lusaka to focus on his writing. Mpashi is said to have been a kind, compassionate and principled man. One of his daughters narrates how he declined an offer made to him by the Frist Republican President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, to become Minister of Education. Mpashi’s reason was that he did not wish to mix politics with the values that he had placed on education. He turned his energy to writing and by the time of his passing, his books were well read in schools and by the public.  His books, listed below are still on sale in local bookshops and on Amazon.

·         1950: Cekesoni aingila ubu soja

·         1951: Uwakwensha ubushiku (detective story, which was republished in 1957)

·         1951: Ubusuma bubili (Advice to women on their appearance and conduct, which was republished in 1955)

·         1952: Umucinshi

·         1955: Uwauma nafyala

·         1955: IciBemba cesu na mano yaciko

·         1956: Uwakalema takaleka

·         1956: Pano Calo

·         1956: AbaPatili bafika ku ba Bemba (Republished in 1968)

·         1957: Pio akobekela Vera

·         1958: Bakutemwe (republished in 1972)

·         1960: Akatabo ka baice (republished in 1971)

·         1962: Amalango (a collection of Bemba poems)

·         1962: Ukupoka icisendo

·         1963: IciBemba na mano yaciko

·         1968: Pio na Vera (republished in 1996)

·         1978: Tusobolole iciBemba

If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, literary heroes like Stephen Andrea Mpashi (MHSRIP), should never be forgotten. We should proudly sing about their victories and continue to promote their work. These legends have given the Zambian writer a foundation that can be used to grow the literary industry.