Turning the Torch on Zambia, Geraldine Sinyuy Interviews Kaluwe Haangala, a Prolific Zambian Writer

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Hello. It's a pleasure for me to be interviewing today. Can you tell us about yourself please?
Kaluwe Haangala:  I am Kaluwe Haangala, turning 45 soon, Zambian, a writer, mostly short stories and poetry. I trained and worked in IT Support Services. I am passionate about writing poetry, something I do almost daily.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  How did you become a writer? What prompted you to start writing?
Kaluwe Haangala: I have always been interested in reading. My mother tells of how I was so inquisitive, she would ask me to get a pencil and circle words in a newspaper, so I learnt to read quite early. Also, the BBC World Service shaped my view of the world and I got interested in things like the proverbs and stories on Network Africa. I sent in some that were broadcast, like the proverb, “Life is best lived at walking pace, but understood at a sprint”, sometime in 2004.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  At what age did you start writing and who saw your first piece of creative writing? In other words, to whom did you take your first creative writing piece?
Kaluwe Haangala: I started writing actively in my early 20s as a form of therapy, to be honest. Then I went off to do school, work, etc. And to this day, I turn to writing when I want to get my mind right.
All through school, I always targeted getting total marks in English composition. Outside of school, I have to say I first shared what I wrote/journalled with a friend in 2003. He said, "Do you know that these poems can make good song lyrics?" That's where the songwriter dream was born, though it is yet to fruit, despite me having literally hundreds of such pieces.
It wasn't until 2021 that I came across the Zambia Book Club page on Facebook that I started to share my work publicly. I was awarded for every poetry and short story contest I entered. Then I decided it was time to be a writer.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  That was a very encouraging start. Congratulations. How did your family or community welcome the idea of you becoming a writer?
Kaluwe Haangala: My biggest supporter has always been my Mum, largely because my Father was not only a well known musician, but also an editor, writer, poet, composer, back in the 1970s and 80s. All she mused about was how I said or wrote things the way my late Father used to. So, no objections from there. Community? It was weird to tell people I wrote back in the 2000s. Interestingly, some of the same people are more partial to the idea now.

Geraldine Sinyuy: What is your source of inspiration as a writer?
Kaluwe Haangala:  I am inspired by life and what happens. For example, my first story in print called "The Last Trumpet" was inspired, loosely, by my Father's death. It was printed in the Spoiling the Broth Anthology - Volume 3, by Published Afrika of South Africa. 
My short stories draw inspiration from something I have heard, something I have read, seen, all that. My poetry is inspired by things as simple as a picture posted by someone and I just type away.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Writers have a lot to offer their societies and the world at large especially when it comes to castigating societal ills. Is your writing geared towards any of these?
Kaluwe Haangala:  I cannot explicitly say I write to right the world per se. I center more on fiction though some of my works have elements that point at societal ills. Like the story "The Last Trumpet", it mentions in some detail, an evil common in most of our African cultures, that of grabbing property the dead leave, depriving the rightful owners. Another of my published stories called "Tears That Never Really Dry" delved into the challenges a single mother faced after divorce and bringing up a child in a conservative environment. "For Never Hold Your Piece" that was published by a Zambian literary magazine called Labila Magazine, I describe it as a nether-romance that tackled dating and HIV related stigma. I have a poem to be published soon that was against Vandalism.
Though not ill, in that sense, I did a poem about vasectomy in November last year, quite a sensitive topic among men. So, my writing dips toes into many elements that lend thought to ills, but not necessarily castigate, which would sound more like journalistic work.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  I can see that your writings over quite a wide spectrum of topics. Human rights issues have dominated world politics and literary studies. Are there any peculiar human rights concerns that you feature in your works?
Kaluwe Haangala:  I have an as yet unpublished story I am hoping will find a home, that hones in on violation of employee rights. A lot of people work under conditions where having a voice is deemed illegal. In fact, I believe I was a victim of having voice at a place that had ridiculous and backward practices. I do hope that gets to be published soon.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  As an African writer, what do you think about the future of African Literature in this digital era coupled with AI?
Kaluwe Haangala:  AI lacks one thing that is peculiarly human, that is the element of human error. That gives me some joy, particularly because I feel I do my best not to use tired, overused expressions. AI draws from language models that mimic already written work, and not the flawed human flow of writing, based on rules of creative writing. For me that's the hope that I can still come off as someone that does not use AI. 
From my perspective, I think 'African Writing' is boxed, we are expected to write a certain way based on what the forebears did. But those with unique voices abound, so there is hope that the future of African writing burns bright. Sadly, it feels like opportunities are few and far between.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Who are your favourite Zambian writers?
Kaluwe Haangala: Hahahaha. The corky answer I will give is, Me! I read a lot of what I write, to rewrite and perfect it, and I avoid reading much of other people's work, as that, I feel, may soil my voice. Also, if this makes sense, I don’t read like someone who loves to read, but someone looking for a style and voice, so I am mean when I read work I view as competition.
That said, I follow some short story writers whose work I come across in some of the competitions I take part in. I have read some Zambian titles in the past, like 'The Black Eye', 'The Accusing Finger', ‘Ticklish Sensation’, ‘Behind Closed Doors’ and others. But I have to say my favorite writer is my Father, Smokey Haangala, his novel that was released the day he was being buried called 'The Black Eye', a book I was told not to read till I was 11. Mum got tired of saying No. And I also still remember the collection of short stories he wrote, that were even used in the Secondary School curriculum for the Southern part of the country, where I grew up.

Geraldine Sinyuy: It’s amazing that your father was a writer. That means writing flows in your bloodline. It’s sad that his book was released on the day he was being buried. I’m so sorry about your loss as well. What was the first literary work that you read?
Kaluwe Haangala:  I did a lot of reading as a child, so I can’t honestly pinpoint. The one library book I still remember fondly, though, is 'The Twenty Seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race'. That book spent more time in my hands than on the library shelf. I also remember a book of nursery rhymes from the Library, “Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon!” Amazing how I still remember rhymes from my preteen years, which I learnt from home, not school, by they way. But that formulated what would become this poet I am now.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  That’s quite interesting. I also recited “Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle…” stuff. Hahaha. It was in my elder sister’s English Reader. Tell me, how could the cow ever jump over the moon? Hahaha.  What genre of literature do you find easier to write in?
Kaluwe Haangala:  Because I write a lot of poetry, I would say Romance. Part of my early teens in boarding school were spent borrowing Mills & Boon, Harlequin Temptations, and as a male, I should be hesitant to admit I read a bunch of them. But the result is, I find it easy to write about love, pain, emotions basically. Though as a writer hoping to advance further, I cannot, and shouldn’t identify with a specific genre as yet.

Geraldine Sinyuy:   Have you had any publications yet?
Kaluwe Haangala: Yes I have published short stories:

• An article I contributed for an in-flight magazine is due to be published August 2025

• Ubwali Magazine (Zambian online publication), poem, “A Beautiful Woman is Easier to Forgive", 2025

• Publish'd Afrika, released the anthology Spoiling The Broth Anthology volume 3, this year 2025. They have also published several of my stories online.

• Kalahari Review, "When Graves Wail," a climate fiction story that made top five in a competition under the auspices of the Botswana Society for Human Development, 2022

• Writers Space Africa, a short story, "Attorney at 'Low'", 2024

• Labila Magazine, short story, "For Never Hold Your Peace", the nether-romance about dating and HIV related stigma, 2023

• Poetry and short stories, published by Zambia Book Club, even culminating in an Award of Excellence in Poetry in February 2022

• African Global Networks published a poem piece called "I am A Mother" (2025). 

• I also post on the www.poetree.ca page,  which ended up with a poem voiced over on YouTube. I post on my own social media pages too.

• (I was shortlisted in the top 5 of Alex Nderitu Prize for African Literature in early 2025.)

Geraldine Sinyuy:  That quite huge. Do you make any money from your writings?
Kaluwe Haangala:  I have received token appreciation from the publications that have published my work recently.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  How do you appreciate the publishing when it comes to author rights?
Kaluwe Haangala:  Those that have published my work let me retain my rights to my work, a fact I absolutely appreciate. Further up the ladder is something I am yet to have an opinion about.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  What special thing can you say about your country?
Kaluwe Haangala:  Zambia is a country of diverse people brought together by their peaceful nature. And of course 80% of the famed Victoria Falls lies within Zambia’s borders, a little known fact I wish was more prominently spoken about.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  In one of your short stories, you wrote about the environment. What do you have to say about the way we relate to Mother earth?
Kaluwe Haangala:  "When Graves Wail" as the title suggests, graves wailing, metaphorically means Mother Earth has reason to cry from how we have treated her. Spillages of harmful effluents into fresh water streams, for example. Yet, not much is being done to safeguard the environment. We can have as many COP summits, but economies need to run and grow, so efforts to save Earth and the need to feed from mines and prosper, are playing a diabolical game of chess.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Describe your writing space and your best time for writing.
Kaluwe Haangala:  I write using phone and tablet over the last three years, meaning I can write anywhere. I tend to write when the mood hits, at times even waking up because an idea came to me at night

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Can you share a joke with us?
Kaluwe Haangala: I was reminded the other day that I posted a joke, (seemingly insensitive to some), about how the worst combo of illnesses is diarrhoea and dementia, you're going, but don't remember why, or where. Terrible joke, I know.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Is there any else you would like to share with us? 
Kaluwe Haangala:  Writing can be fun when the muses and juices flow the same direction. But those rejections can hit pretty bad! Sometimes I listen to trending songs and my mind says a huge, “Really! That?” But it's onwards and forward like I love to psyche myself up. Sadly, I feel the number of people willing to even read free stuff is atrociously low. Vast majority read for exams, and levels of alliteracy, ability to read yet avoiding to, is appalling. I feel getting kids interested in reading before they even go to pre-school is key to ramping up interest in literacy, and stave off alliteracy or reader apathy.

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Do you have any links to your works? If one were to find your work, where would they look?
Kaluwe Haangala: 
“When Graves Wail”. [Short Story]: https://kalaharireview.com/when-graves-wail-bb01eaaf27aa
“A Beautiful Woman is Easier to Forgive”. [Poem]: https://www.ubwali.com/a-beautiful-woman-is-easier-to-forgive
“Attorney at ‘Low’”. [Short Story]: https://www.writersspace.net/attorney-at-low-a-short-story-by-kaluwe-haangala-zambia/
“Decastich for Love”. [Audio Poem]: https://youtu.be/ZY2K2irjK4k?si=xCyVqD4l9yzWe4sp
“Vasetomy: An Act of Love”. [Audio Poem]: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EF7QSWnmd/
“Graves are Impermanent”. [Short Story]: https://publishdafrika.com/2023/06/22/publishd-afrika-magazine-facebook-short-story-competition-june-2023-kaluwe-haangala/
“The Last Trumpet”. [Short Story]: https://publishdafrika.com/2023/08/21/publishd-afrika-magazine-facebook-short-story-competition-august-2023-leg-kaluwe-haangala/
“Tears That Never Really Dry”. [Short Story]: https://publishdafrika.com/2023/04/20/publishd-afrika-magazine-facebook-short-story-competition-april-2023-leg-kaluwe-haangala/
Musings of a Mutilated Mind. [Poetry Collection]: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BC12UrYXy/
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaluwe_h?igsh=bjlhMm1oeGdhNGxn

Geraldine Sinyuy:  Thank you so much for conversing with us. We look forward to having you back here for further conversations.
Kaluwe Haangala:  I am appreciative of the chance to talk to you. Thank you.

KALUWE HAANGALA is a Zambian published author of stories and poems. He made the top five of the inaugural Alex Nderitu Prize for African Literature (Kenya, 2025). The “Spoiling the Broth - Volume 3” anthology produced in 2025 in hard copy by Publish’d Afrika (South Africa) includes his short story "The Last Trumpet". His prose and poetry has appeared in Ubwali Magazine(May 2025), African Global Networks (June 2024), Writers Space Africa, Labila Magazine (Zambia), the Kalahari Review, and elsewhere. He holds qualifications and long-term experience in IT Support Services.