Kelvin Siabunkululu on Youth, Choices and the Road to Finding Oneself

Sometimes leaving home is the beginning of a new life. Sometimes, it is also the beginning of a few wrong turns.

That tension runs through Lost in the City, a young adult novel by Lusaka-born writer Kelvin Siabunkululu.

The story follows Mapenzi, a young man who leaves Nyawa in Southern Province for Lusaka, hoping to make something of himself. He has a clear ambition: to study medicine at the University of Zambia and build a future his parents can be proud of.

But life in the city introduces him to a different set of influences. Mapenzi falls in with bad company, and the consequences are eventually severe. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself being pushed through the corridors of Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital on a gurney after suffering a gunshot wound.

For someone whose future had been centred on becoming a doctor, the moment is a sobering one.

But Lost in the City is not only about the dramatic events that happen to Mapenzi. It is about the decisions that lead him there.

It is about friendship, parental advice, ambition and what can happen when a young person is trying to find their identity away from home.

In Conversation with Kelvin Siabunkululu

KSJ: Where did the idea for Lost in the City come from?

Kelvin Siabunkululu: I have always been interested in people and the way we live. I wanted to write something that young people could actually see themselves in. The idea developed around a young person leaving home, coming to the city and trying to find his way.

KSJ: Why Mapenzi? What attracted you to his story?

Siabunkululu: I think Mapenzi represents a lot of young people. He has dreams. He wants to succeed. He wants to become something. But along the way, he meets people who influence him, and things start changing.

I wanted to show that sometimes it is not the absence of ambition that gets someone into trouble. You can have very good intentions and still make wrong choices.

KSJ: And why move the story from Nyawa to Lusaka?

Siabunkululu: I liked the contrast. You have this young man coming from a small village into a much bigger environment. Everything is different—the people, the opportunities, the pressures.

Lusaka can be exciting, but it can also expose you to things you have never encountered before. I thought that made it an interesting setting for Mapenzi's journey.

KSJ: His parents try to guide him. Was that an important part of the story for you?

Siabunkululu: Very much. Parents don't always get everything right, but most parents want to see their children do well. Sometimes young people think their parents are simply restricting them, when actually they are trying to protect them.

With Mapenzi, the tragedy is that he had been warned. He had people telling him to be careful, but he did not listen.

KSJ: There is quite a dramatic turn when Mapenzi ends up at Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital. Why take the story there?

Siabunkululu: I wanted the consequences to feel real. It wasn't enough for him to simply get into trouble and then walk away from it.

The gunshot wound shows how serious things have become. At that point, you start wondering what will happen to his education and his future. This is someone who wanted to become a doctor, and now he is lying on a hospital bed.

KSJ: What would you like a young reader to think about after finishing the book?

Siabunkululu: I would like them to think about the people they surround themselves with and the decisions they make.

But I don't want the book to feel like someone is preaching to them. It is a story. They should enjoy the story first, and hopefully some of those things will stay with them afterwards.

KSJ: What keeps you interested in writing?

Siabunkululu: People, really. Humanity. Leadership. Family. I enjoy seeing people succeed, and I think stories give us a way of understanding each other a little better.

The Author

Born in Lusaka, Siabunkululu describes himself as passionate about humanity, leadership and family life. He is married to Catherine T. C. Siabunkululu, and they have a daughter, Gianna Siabunkululu.

With Lost in the City, he turns those interests towards a young man's difficult transition from the familiarity of home to the uncertainty of city life.

The result is a distinctly Zambian coming-of-age story—one that moves from Nyawa to Lusaka, from university ambitions to difficult consequences, and from parental warnings to lessons that may come too late.