Jack Mapanje is a poet based in Malawi, Africa. He is Malawi’s most internationally known poet and was imprisoned in 1987 for writing Of Chameleons of God, published in 1981. The book was deemed critical of the Malawian government. He had just received a position for the writer in residency at the University of Zimbabwe and was forced to give it up. In 1990, he was awarded the PEN/Barbra Smith Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. He went to study at the University of Malawi, the Institute of Education London, University College, London where he earned degrees in English, education, and linguistics. His other works include The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison and Skipping without Ropes. His work has always been charged with political themes as he has a desire to reveal the truth.
Information from Pen America.
