George Kasonde, author of The Padre and the Pagans of Ituna, revealed that his new novel aims to narrate Bemba history to a Zambian audience. Speaking at the Henry Tayali Art Gallery on 13 October 2026, he explained that his book offers an alternative to European accounts of African history.&nbsp;“With my book, what I tried to do was to present history from our own point of view,” Kasonde said in the gallery at the Lusaka Showgrounds.&nbsp;The novelist also observed that African history is often written for Western consumption. However, The Padre and the Pagans of Ituna targets Zambians who want to know more about their own heritage.&nbsp;“My book was not written so that the Western world could approve it,” Kasonde disclosed. “I knew that they would not approve it, and they wouldn’t even publish it.”Kasonde’s remarks were made during a seminar convened by Gadsden Publishers and facilitated by John Corley. Statements made during the seminar will be used to inform Corley’s research on postcolonial literature.The seminar participants included poet Nicholas Kawinga, 5fm journalist Esnart Lungu, creative writer Chiseche Mutale, storyteller Anthony Lupeke, artist Ruth Hartley, as well as editors and publishers from the Zambian Reprographic Rights Society, the Zambia Women Writers Association, Pen Zambia, and the National Writers Association of Zambia.When sharing his position on postcolonial writing, Kasonde divulged that the scarcity of historical fiction for Zambian audiences motivated him to deliver The Padre and the Pagans of Ituna.“I thought that the time had come for us to write our own history from our own perspective,” Kasonde said. “So when you read that book, you are reading history as told by ourselves.”Kasonde’s readers will gather at The Mocha Puddle Café on Saturday 17 October from 14:30 to 15:30 to discuss Chapter 1 of The Padre and the Pagans of Ituna. Queries: +260977954869

Rewriting Bemba history through Zambian fiction

George Kasonde Writes for Zambians

John Corley was born in 1943 in Somerset, UK. He worked as a lorry driver’s mate and technical translator in the aviation industry before becoming a quantity surveyor (building economist). He carried out this role for most of his career, finishing as a contract manager, having worked and lived in the UK, South Africa, and Belgium.In 1997, he started working on an MBA (Bath), followed by an MPhil (Cranfield) and BA (Northampton). Corley gained a DBA and a PhD in Management, both in Switzerland.He married Ruth Hartley, a painter and writer, and they travelled around Europe, covering 30,000 km and 27 countries. They settled into a village in Southwest France.After editing all 10 of Hartley’s books, John decided to do an MA in English Literature at Unicaf University in Zambia.Corley is currently in Lusaka to visit his Zambian family and attend his MA graduation at Unicaf on 15 October. While in Zambia, he is also undertaking preliminary research for his PhD in English Literature.Corley will give a seminar based on his research on Tuesday 13 October from 15:00 to 17:00 at the Henry Tayali Art Gallery. The seminar will examine how local publishing economics and the migration of authors abroad create a disconnect between writers and their subjects.Corley will unpack the ongoing influence of colonial perspectives, the tension between writing for local versus foreign audiences, and the unique challenge of capturing authentic precolonial oral traditions in written forms.Readers, writers, publishers, and academics are invited to share their insights on these critical themes.Entry is free and all are welcome for an afternoon of reflection with John Corley, DipMan, BA, MBA, MA, MPhil, PhD, DBA, FRSA.Topic: Crisis of Identity in Postcolonial WritingDate: Tuesday 13 October 2026Time: 15:00–17:00 hrsVenue: Henry Tayali Art GalleryAddress: Lion Lane Street, Lusaka Showgrounds Seminar queries: +260977954869 (Anna Zgambo, Licensed Arts Promoter)

John Corley will give a seminar based on his research on Tuesday 13 October from 15:00 to 17:00 at the Henry Tayali Art Gallery. 

John Corley Visits Zambia

Join John Corley for a thought-provoking seminar exploring the complex dynamics shaping contemporary literature.Topic: Crisis of Identity in Postcolonial WritingSpeaker: John CorleyDate: Tuesday 13 October 2026Time: 15:00–17:00 hrsVenue: Henry Tayali Art GalleryAddress: Lion Lane Street, Lusaka ShowgroundsEntry: Free for everyoneBased on his research, this discussion will examine how local publishing economics and the migration of authors abroad create a disconnect between writers and their subjects. We will unpack the ongoing influence of colonial perspectives, the tension between writing for local versus foreign audiences, and the unique challenge of capturing authentic precolonial oral traditions in written forms.Readers, writers, publishers, and academics are invited to share their insights on these critical themes. Entry is free and all are welcome.Queries: +260977954869 (Anna Zgambo, Licensed Arts Promoter)

Are African writers facing an identity crisis? 

Crisis of Identity in Postcolonial Writing

I am writing to invite you to a virtual Meet the Novelist session with Penias Phiri, author of Preparing the Ground. The author will discuss his life story, read from his debut novel, and answer your questions.&nbsp;Penias Phiri, born in 1997, grew up in rural Chadiza and is still based in Zambia's Eastern Province.&nbsp;The worldviews in Preparing the Ground astonished me, and I was astounded by Penias Phiri's account of village life in Chadiza. I was particularly stunned by how the novel depicted the widespread belief in witchcraft.&nbsp;I believe that we should do more to support writers from rural Zambia. That is why I'm organizing this virtual event to give Penias Phiri a platform to reach a wider audience.Do join us on Saturday 3 October from 16:30 to 17:30 hours CAT.&nbsp;Entry is free and all are welcome. Do invite other lovers of Zambian literature.Novel: Preparing the GroundAuthor: Penias PhiriYear: 2026Publisher:<a href="https://sotranepublishers.com/shop" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent;"> Sotrane Publishers</a>Licensed Promoter:<a href="https://annazgambo.com/biography" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;"> Anna Zgambo</a> Preparing the Ground follows Zakeyo, an ambitious young man navigating life in the village of Kalikongwe, where traditional customs meet modern challenges. Facing hardship, village dangers, and family struggles, Zakeyo relies on community support, hope, and his childhood sweetheart, Zilile, as he fights for his education and survival.﻿Order the paperback at K350: +260770621881<a href="https://a.co/d/0bPk6QNZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Get the ebook at $9.99</a>

Meet the Novelist: Penias Phiri

A new Zambian novel is using the story of one child to examine some of the less visible challenges facing families and communities.Under the Mango Tree, the first published book by Zambian writer and filmmaker Yoweli Chungu, follows Junior, an autistic child growing up in Chibolya.The novel explores autism through the experiences of Junior and his family, but its subject is broader. It touches on childhood, poverty, family, faith, community life, disability and the difficulty of understanding people whose experiences do not fit familiar expectations.Chibolya is central to the story.Rather than using the compound simply as a setting for hardship, Chungu presents it as a community with its own relationships, beliefs, humour, conflicts and aspirations.That approach gives the story a distinctly Zambian setting while allowing it to examine issues that extend beyond one community.<h3>A mother searching for answers</h3>In one of the early chapters, "A Different Child," Junior's mother Hildah begins to recognise that her son is developing differently from other children.She notices his fascination with light, shadows and particular sounds. He observes people differently and does not always respond to faces or his name in the way she expects.When some of the few words he has begun using disappear, her concern deepens.But Hildah initially has no clear explanation for what she is seeing.The uncertainty becomes part of her own struggle. She begins questioning whether something during pregnancy or early childhood could have caused the changes she is seeing.Her mother-in-law, Ba Ruth, challenges that guilt, telling her that the child's condition is not the result of her mistakes.It is a small family exchange, but it captures one of the themes running through the novel: the burden parents can carry when they do not have enough information to understand what is happening to their children.<h3>When information is limited</h3>As Hildah searches for answers, the community offers its own explanations.Some interpret Junior's behaviour through traditional beliefs. Others see it through a religious or spiritual lens.Hildah eventually seeks help from a church, hoping that prayer might provide an answer. Instead, the experience leaves her confronting the limits of explanations based solely on faith.The novel uses this part of the story to explore a difficult reality: when reliable information about disability and developmental conditions is limited, families may turn to whatever explanations are available to them.That can include family advice, traditional beliefs, religious interpretations or other community explanations.For Hildah, the turning point is the realisation that what she needs is knowledge and a language through which she can understand her son.<h3>Beyond the autism story</h3>This is what makes Under the Mango Tree broader than a story about one child's condition.Junior's experience is connected to the circumstances around him.His family has its own pressures. The community has its own beliefs. Poverty shapes the choices available to people. Faith provides both comfort and explanations. And traditional ideas continue to coexist with modern life.The novel therefore places autism within the everyday realities of a Zambian community rather than treating it as an isolated medical or social issue.It also raises questions about how society responds to difference.What happens when a child behaves differently but the people around him do not understand why?How does a family respond when professional information is difficult to access?And how much can a child's experience be shaped by the assumptions of the people around him?These questions give the novel relevance beyond its fictional setting.<h3>Chibolya as a community</h3>The choice of Chibolya is also worth noting.Zambian compounds are often represented in public discussions primarily through poverty, crime or inadequate infrastructure. Chungu's story takes a wider view.Chibolya becomes a social environment — a place where people raise children, form relationships, hold religious beliefs, deal with conflict and find ways to survive.That allows the novel to present the community with both its difficulties and its humanity.It is also part of what makes the story recognisably Zambian. The setting is not simply a backdrop to Junior's life; it influences the people around him and the explanations they use to make sense of the world.<h3>A conversation about disability and understanding</h3>At its centre, Under the Mango Tree is concerned with the gap between difference and understanding.Junior experiences the world differently. The people around him must decide how to respond to that difference.The book consequently opens a wider conversation about autism and disability in African communities, including the role of family, faith, cultural beliefs and access to information.For Chungu, the book also represents a move from filmmaking into fiction.That shift gives him a different space in which to explore a subject that is difficult to capture through headlines or statistics: the private experience of a family trying to understand a child.The result is a story rooted in Chibolya but dealing with questions that will be familiar to many families — how we understand children, how communities explain difference, and what happens when love is present but knowledge is limited.Under the Mango Tree is Chungu's first published book.It is available through Booklovers Namibia.Purchase the book:<a href="https://booklovers-namibia.com/shop/under-the-mango-tree?utm_source=chatgpt.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Booklovers Namibia — Under the Mango Tree</a>KSJ Book Spotlight is an editorial feature highlighting books by Zambian and African authors and the social, economic and cultural questions explored in their work.#UnderTheMangoTree #YoweliChungu #ZambianLiterature #AfricanLiterature #ZambianWriters #ZambianStories #AfricanStorytelling #AutismAwareness #DisabilityInclusion #Chibolya #Lusaka #BookSpotlight #KatondoStreetJournal

Beneath the Mango Tree: Yoweli Chungu’s Story of Childhood, Autism and Belonging

There is something almost philosophical about El Niño.The name comes from the Spanish El Niño, meaning “the boy,” and historically referred to the appearance of unusually warm waters along the Pacific coast of Peru and Ecuador around Christmas — El Niño de Navidad, the Christ Child. Long before satellites, ocean buoys and sophisticated climate models, fishermen had already noticed that the ocean was capable of changing its behaviour and, with it, their livelihoods.There is an important lesson in that history.Nature often gives signals before it gives consequences.The challenge for societies is learning how to listen.For Zambia, this may matter again.A statistical and machine-learning forecasting system I have been developing using historical Oceanic Niño Index data from 1950 to 2026 has identified a very strong El Niño signal emerging in 2026.The latest observation in the model is June 2026. The recorded ocean temperature anomaly is +1.50°C, and the system classifies the current ENSO state as El Niño.More importantly, the historical series shows that the threshold was crossed around March 2026.The question is therefore no longer simply whether an El Niño signal exists.The more important question is:What should Zambia do with the information? <h2>The lesson of Pharaoh and Joseph</h2>There is an old story that offers a surprisingly modern way of thinking about this.In Genesis, Pharaoh dreams of seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Joseph interprets the dream and recommends something remarkably practical: during the years of abundance, Egypt should save enough resources to survive the years of scarcity.Whether one approaches the story as theology, history, literature or economics, the underlying principle is powerful.A forecast is valuable not because it predicts the future perfectly, but because it gives society time to prepare for an uncertain future.That is precisely how we should think about El Niño.The objective should not be to claim that we can predict exactly how much rain Lusaka, Chipata or Choma will receive.Climate systems are considerably more complicated than that.The objective is to identify a sufficiently strong signal early enough to allow farmers, businesses, financial institutions and government to make better decisions.And right now, the signal deserves attention. <h2>The strange history of El Niño</h2>Looking through the historical ENSO record produces another interesting observation.The El Niño episodes identified in the historical series include years such as:1972, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2015, 2018 and 2023.At first glance, there appears to be something resembling a rhythm.1972 to 1982: 10 years1982 to 1987: 5 years1987 to 1991: 4 years1991 to 1992: 1 year1992 to 1995: 3 years1995 to 1997: 2 years1997 to 2002: 5 years2002 to 2004: 2 years2004 to 2006: 2 years2006 to 2009: 3 years2009 to 2015: 6 years2015 to 2018: 3 years2018 to 2023: 5 yearsIt is tempting to conclude that the cycle is getting shorter.But that would go beyond what the data can support.ENSO does not operate like a clock. Scientists generally describe El Niño and La Niña as irregular phenomena, with events commonly recurring every two to seven years rather than according to a fixed timetable.The more interesting observation is therefore not that the cycle is mechanically shortening.It is that the intervals can cluster remarkably closely.Nature appears to have memory without necessarily having a schedule.That is precisely the kind of problem for which statistical modelling becomes useful. <h2>What does the model say about 2026?</h2>The forecasting system does not rely on a single technique.It combines three different approaches.The first is a SARIMAX time-series model, designed to capture temporal patterns and persistence in the historical ENSO data.The second is a gradient-boosted machine-learning classifier, which looks for nonlinear relationships in the historical data and classifies the likely ENSO state.The third is a classical Markov-chain transition model, which approaches the problem from the perspective of transitions between states: El Niño, Neutral and La Niña.The forecasts are then blended.This is important because every model has weaknesses.A time-series model may capture persistence particularly well but fail to capture complex nonlinear relationships.A machine-learning model may detect patterns that a conventional statistical model misses, while also being more susceptible to historical peculiarities.A Markov model is comparatively simple, but it provides an independent perspective on how the system transitions between states.Rather than allowing one model to dictate the answer, the system asks what happens when these different approaches are considered together.And the answer is striking.<h3>September 2026 forecast</h3>Using information available through June 2026, the blended forecast for September 2026 is:El Niño: 94.1%Neutral: 5.5%La Niña: 0.4%The system therefore identifies El Niño as overwhelmingly the most likely ENSO state for September 2026.See app in detail below:<a href="https://elnino.streamlit.app/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://elnino.streamlit.app/</a>The app's live classification layer produces an even stronger signal, assigning approximately 99.1% probability to El Niño, against 0.8% for Neutral and 0.1% for La Niña.That does not mean there is a 94.1% probability that Zambia will experience drought.That distinction is extremely important.The model is forecasting ENSO, not Zambian rainfall.ENSO is a large-scale climate phenomenon. Translating that signal into a prediction about rainfall in Zambia requires another layer of modelling involving rainfall history, geography, atmospheric conditions, seasonality and potentially soil moisture and temperature.But the ENSO signal is still economically valuable.It gives us something that every risk manager wants:time. <h2>From the Pacific Ocean to a Zambian maize field</h2>Why should Zambia care about a temperature anomaly in the Pacific Ocean?Because climate does not respect economic borders.The 2023/24 El Niño episode demonstrated this brutally.Zambia experienced one of its most severe droughts in decades. Agricultural production was heavily affected, particularly maize. The consequences subsequently moved beyond farms and into markets, households and public finances.The chain is familiar:Climate shock → agricultural shock → food-supply shock → price shock → household-income shock → fiscal pressure.That is the real economic significance of El Niño.It is not simply a weather story.It is a risk transmission mechanism.When rainfall fails, farmers lose production.When production falls, food availability tightens.When supply tightens, prices rise.When food prices rise, household purchasing power falls.When households struggle, government intervention becomes more important.Suddenly, something that began thousands of kilometres away in the Pacific becomes an issue for the Bank of Zambia, the Ministry of Agriculture, grain traders, banks, insurers and ordinary households. <h2>Perhaps we are asking the wrong question</h2>The conventional question is:“Will El Niño cause drought?”A better question is:“What can we do if the probability of an El Niño event becomes sufficiently high?”That changes everything.A farmer might reconsider crop choices.An agricultural lender might reconsider portfolio exposure.An insurer might reassess agricultural risk.A grain trader might review inventory positions.Government might consider strategic grain stocks earlier.Irrigation investments might become more urgent.Water utilities might stress-test supply.Development agencies might bring forward resilience programmes.And financial institutions could begin pricing climate risk into agricultural lending.The forecast becomes valuable not because it tells us exactly what will happen, but because it allows decisions to be made before the consequences arrive. <h2>The case for Njala Insurance</h2>This is where the idea of Njala Insurance becomes particularly interesting.The concept is built around a simple proposition: Zambia should explore agricultural insurance mechanisms that are designed around the realities of smallholder farmers and the risks they actually face.Traditional insurance asks the farmer to pay a monetary premium.But for a farmer whose biggest asset is the harvest itself, there may be another way to think about the transaction.What if insurance could be connected more directly to expected agricultural output?What if farmers could contribute a portion of their harvest or expected production into a risk-pooling mechanism?The ancient Joseph story provides the philosophical metaphor.Store something during abundance because scarcity is possible.Modern statistics provide the other half of the idea.We now have increasingly sophisticated ways of identifying when the probability of climate disruption is rising.The combination of the two is powerful:Ancient wisdom tells us to prepare.Modern statistics tell us when the risk may be rising.Financial innovation determines how we can act on that information. <h2>We should not confuse prediction with prophecy</h2>There is also a danger in all of this.A 94.1% probability can sound like certainty.It is not.A statistical forecast is not prophecy.It is a statement about probability conditional on the data, model structure and assumptions used.The model could be wrong.The atmosphere could behave differently.ENSO could transition unexpectedly.And even if El Niño develops exactly as anticipated, Zambia's rainfall response will not necessarily mirror the previous event.This is why good forecasting should never produce complacency.It should produce preparedness.The objective is not to predict the future perfectly.The objective is to reduce the cost of being surprised. <h2>The ocean is giving us a warning before the fields do</h2>There is something profound about the fact that the earliest signal of a potential agricultural crisis may come from an ocean thousands of kilometres away.A fisherman sees the ocean changing.A meteorologist sees atmospheric patterns.A statistician sees a distribution shifting.A machine-learning model sees probabilities.A farmer eventually sees the consequences in the field.These are not separate events.They are different points along the same system.The opportunity for Zambia is to connect them.We should be building systems in which climate information flows into agricultural planning, financial risk management, insurance, food-security policy and investment decisions.Because by the time the farmer sees the drought, it may already be too late to prepare. <h2>The next Pharaoh moment</h2>The emerging 2026 El Niño signal should therefore not be treated as a reason for panic.It should be treated as an opportunity to test whether Zambia has learned the lesson of 2023/24.If the models are wrong, preparation will have cost something.If the models are right, preparation could save considerably more.That is the economics of uncertainty.We do not need certainty before acting.We need risk-adjusted decisions.Perhaps this is ultimately what the story of Pharaoh and Joseph was trying to teach us.The wisdom was not in knowing exactly what the future would look like.The wisdom was in recognising that good years and bad years could coexist within the same system — and that a society capable of looking ahead could use the former to prepare for the latter.The Pacific Ocean has begun sending another signal.The latest statistical evidence suggests that El Niño is overwhelmingly the most likely ENSO state for September 2026.Zambia should listen.Not because the future is certain.But because uncertainty is precisely why preparation matters.And sometimes, the difference between a crisis and a manageable shock is not whether we knew what was coming.It is whether we were willing to act when the probability became high enough.