Steve Bernard Miles Chimombo (4 September 1945 – 11 December 2015) was a

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

an writer, poet, editor and teacher. He was born in Zomba.Chalamanda, Fiona Johnson
"Steve Chimombo"
''The Literary Encyclopedia''. First published 8 January 2001.

Life

He was educated at Zomba Catholic Secondary School, then at the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whethe ...

where he earned a B.A. At the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

, he took a teaching diploma in ''English as a Second Language''. At

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he was awarded his M.A. and Ph.D. in teaching. After studying at

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, England, Chimombo returned to Malawi to edit the literary bulletin ''Outlook-lookout''. He was a professor of English at Chancellor College in Malawi and was considered one of the nation's leading writers. In 1988 his ''Napolo Poems'' gained him honorable mention for the

Noma Award for Publishing in Africa The Noma Award for Publishing in Africa (''French:Le Prix Noma de Publication en Afrique''), which ran from 1980 to 2009, was an annual $10,000 prize for outstanding African writers and scholars who published in Africa. Within four years of its es ...

. He was married to Moira Chimombo. The poet Stanley Onjezani Kenani wrote the following appreciation of Chimombo: "Except for J.W. Gwengwe, D.D. Phiri, Jack Mapanje, and Francis Chipasula, I cannot think of any Malawian who has contributed more to Malawian literature than Prof. Chimombo." He died at the age of 70 on 11 December 2015 in Blantyre.

Works

Poetry

* ''Napolo Poems'', Manchichi Publishers, 1987 * ''Python! Python! An Epic Poem'', Wasi Publications, 1992 * ''Napolo and the Python'', Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1994,

Plays

* ''The Rainmaker'' (1975) * ''Wachiona Ndani?'' (1983)

Novels

* ''The Basket Girl'', Popular Publications, 1990 * ''The Wrath of Napolo'', Wasi Publications, 2000,

Children's literature

* ''The Bird Boy's Song'', Wasi Publications, 2002,

Short stories

* ''The Hyena Wears Darkness'' (2006)

Nonfiction

* ''Malawian Oral Literature: The Aesthetics of Indigenous Arts'' (1988) * ''The Culture of Democracy: Language, Literature, the Arts and Politics in Malawi, 1992–94'' (1996)

Anthologies

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chimombo, Steve 1945 births 2015 deaths Malawian poets Malawian writers University of Malawi alumni Alumni of the University of Wales Alumni of the University of Leeds Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Academic staff of the University of Malawi Malawian dramatists and playwrights International Writing Program alumni Chewa-language writers