The Ants

About the Book

"The Ants: Short stories from Malawi" is a collection of stories by two budding authors from the Central African country of Malawi. The mastery woven tales draw from Malawi context and, through them, the authors explore sticking themes of hypocrisy, male chauvinism, poverty, oppression and rebellion which are characteristic of an awakening nation that has the back heel of one leg in captivity whilst the toe-tip of the other tastes liberation.

About the Author

Born on 23rd May 1975, Vincent Chiwamba attended various primary schools in Machinga and Balaka districts in Malawi before being selected to the prestigious Kamuzu Academy (dubbed ‘Eton of Africa’). He passed A-levels in English Literature, Latin and Religious Studies and proceeded to the University of Malawi where he graduated with a credit in Public Administration in 2001. The same year Vincent joined the Reserve Bank of Malawi as a Human Resources practitioner. In 2010 Vincent proceeded to Manchester Metropolitan University to study for a Master of Business Administration. Vincent’s creative works include short stories, poetry and music. His short-story , ‘The Ants ‘ won second - prize in the 2008 Malawi Writers Union (MAWU/FMB) competition and was published in the anthology ‘The Bachelor of Chikanda.’ His other short story ‘The Dying Flames’ had earned a special mention in the MAWU competition of 2001 and was published in ‘The Trap,’ another MAWU anthology. Vincent’s short story ‘Time for a confession’ also won a prize in the writing exercise during a British Council – sponsored writer’s workshop that was conducted in Malawi in 2003. The following stories by Vincent: ‘A Son’s Right,’ ‘The Muyango Tree’, ‘Here in this place,’ ‘Raymond and Raydon’ and ‘The Dying Flames,’ have been published in the leading local papers; Malawi News and The Weekend Nation. Vincent’s poem ‘Night’ won a Kamuzu Academy Poetry competition. His other poems which include ‘Night,’ ‘The Wailing Refugee,’ ‘The African Cause,’ ‘Come on, speak’ and ‘Bondage’ were broadcast on National Radio (MBC) and published in leading papers such as the Michiru Sun, The Lamp, Moni Magazine and the highly profiled ‘WASI’ magazine. Vincent also released a musical album entitled ‘Ululu wa md’ziko’ (The pains of the world) in 2004 and ‘Mphamvu ya mtanda’ (The power of the Cross) in 2008. Vincent’s creative works have a down-to-earth approach that has been largely influenced by time spent in the village during his formative years. The underlying theme in his creative works is hypocrisy. Cecilia graduated from Chancellor College of the University of Malawi, in 1997 with a Bachelors Degree in Education Humanities majoring in English. Since then Cecilia has worked with Blantyre Secondary School as an English teacher, The Creative Centre for Community Mobilisation (CRECOM) as Research Officer and Field Assistant, The National Road Safety Council of Malawi (NRSC) as Road Safety Officer and the Anglican Council in Malawi (ACM) as General Secretary. Cecilia is a prolific writer whose published works include children’s books, short stories and poetry. The following children’s books by Cecilia were published by Malawi National Library Service’s Werengani Series: The Rain bow, Tapiwa’s Ball and Baby Animals. However, it is in the short story genre that Cecilia has had outstanding publication success. In 1997, her short story, “The Mzungu of Mkandanda” was broadcast on BBC Radio’s African Stories. The same story was later published in the Senior Secondary School English Text Book (Malawi). The following short stories have also been published by leading Malawian papers and Magazines: The Bachelor Next Door (Weekend Nation, Believe and Live Magazine), Leaving Utembe (Nation Newspaper), Dust to Diamonds (WASI Magazine, Weekend Nation), Nowhere to Run (WASI Magazine), Here Comes the Man (WASI Magazine). “Zanyanya,” a Chichewa translation of Cecilia’s short story, “Enough” was published in the Junior Secondary School Chichewa Literature Text Book. Cecilia’s published poetic works include: You Deserted Me (WASI Magazine), A Woman ‘s Cry (Operations and Tears, WASI Magazine), Portrait of a Woman (WASI Magazine), Lazarus’ Hymn (Chancellor College Publications). Cecilia’s creative works are shaped by her experiences as an exuberant young woman, wife and mother.