Jack Mapanje | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Alfred Clement Mapanje (1944-03-25)25 March 1944 (age 81) Kadango Village,Mangochi District,Malawi |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, poet, professor |
| Known for | poetry, 1987–91 imprisonment |
| Notable work | Of Chameleons and Gods |
| Awards | Rotterdam Poetry International Award (1988) PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award (1990) |
Jack Mapanje (born 25 March 1944)[1] is aMalawian writer andpoet. He was the head of English at the Chancellor College, the main campus of theUniversity of Malawi before being imprisoned in 1987 for his collectionOf Chameleons and Gods, which indirectly criticized the administration of PresidentHastings Banda. Mapanje was released in 1991 and emigrated to the UK, where he worked as a teacher.
The child ofNyanja andYao parents, John Alfred Clement ("Jack") Mapanje was born in Kadango Village,Mangochi District, Malawi.[1] He received his BA in education from theUniversity of London and worked for a time as a lecturer in Malawi before returning to the UK to study linguistics atUniversity College, London, in the early 1980s.[2]
He subsequently became head of the Department of Language and Linguistics at theUniversity of Malawi.[3]
During the rule of PresidentHastings Banda, Mapanje was jailed without charge in 1987, apparently for publishing his poem collectionOf Chameleons and Gods.[4][5] The collection obliquely criticized Banda's government, and the "chameleon" of the title refers to the disguise of personalvoice Mapanje deemed necessary in order to mount a criticism of the politics at the time.[6] The book received no official ban, but was "withdrawn from circulation".[5]Amnesty International declared him aprisoner of conscience and campaigned for his release.[7] Its protests included a reading of selections fromOf Chameleons and Gods outside the Malawian High Commission in London by UKNobel laureateHarold Pinter.[8] Mapanje was also awarded the 1990PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award during his imprisonment, which carried a US$3,000 cash award.PEN's president, US novelistLarry McMurtry, stated that "the point [of the award] is to generate enough heat so Mapanje gets out of jail".[3] Nigerian Nobel laureateWole Soyinka and UK playwrightRonald Harwood also campaigned for his release.[9]
Mapanje was held for three-and-a-half years before being released in 1991.[5] After his release, he was told he needed to reapply for his previous professorship at the University of Malawi. After a lengthy delay in his application, he instead emigrated to the UK.[5] He wrote a memoir about the experience,And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night,[7] which was also adapted into a play.[9]
After arriving in the UK, Mapanje was awarded a fellowship atThe University of York. He later became a visiting professor atLeeds University. He also taught creative writing in prisons.[4]
In 1994, he returned to Malawi withBBC2 to make a documentary.[4]
He is credited for applying the term "chameleon politics" to describe a political environment where politicians switch parties and forge alliances without transparency or notice in rapidly changing political environments where party switching, floor crossing, and coalition formations are rampant.[10][11] The notion is described in his 1981 book,Of Chameleons and Gods.[12]
