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The 2024 Winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize was awarded to Mubanga Kalimamukwento for her short story collection Obligations to the Wounded. The collection explores womanhood in contemporary Zambia and was selected by Angie Cruz, author of How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, to win the prize.

Of the collection, Cruz stated, ““These thematically linked stories deliver an intricate study of Zambian women living in both Zambia and abroad who are weighing their options of who to love, where to live, where to work. The author, with a poet’s restraint, has written stories that deftly negotiate the challenges and tribulations women face when they feel the pressure and duty to yield to the will of family, community, customs, country, and spiritual beliefs. Obligations to the Wounded graceful, touching and generous collection.”

The twelve-story collection, narrated by different Zambian women, comes out from the University of Pittsburgh Press on October 8, 2024. You can pre-order the book now.

See the cover of Obligations to the Wounded, designed by Alex Wolfe, below along with a brief Q&A with Kalimamukwento about how the cover came to be!