advance praise for Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies

“Out of extraordinary loss, Mubanga Kalimamukwento has crafted a work of extraordinary genius.  The desire to resurrect the dead informs every page—in the laments, the odes, the silence, the heartbreaking futility of the poet’s quest.  No, there is no other mother, or father, or sister, but the power of early love, the imprint of memory sustains.  A fierce love song, a prayer, an unforgettable homage by a visionary artist determined to survive.” – Sheila O’Connor, author of Evidence of V 

“There is a primordial complexity to proverbs. We are supposed to receive their aphoristic truths and wisdom as our ancestors and their ancestors did ad infinitum. In Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Die, translated from the Bemba proverb tapafwa noko, apesa umbi, there is an intentional consideration and reckoning of what it means to contend with the reality these proverbs suggest. Whether it is through loss, grief, material or immaterial burials, Kalimamukwento weaves an erudite bildungsroman narrative through poems, essays, and proverbs that seek no arrivals for their heart-rendering departures, but ask for readers to wade in that in-between space where one can launch themselves into infinite directions to contend with the weight of their lives. For contemporary African letters, this is foundational work, as the proverbial saying goes, to leave an indelible mark.” – Cheswayo Mphanza, author of The Rinehart Frames

“Mubanga Kalimamukwento artfully and intentionally weaves together a powerful body of work that gradually gathers weight & strength with each devastating movement. The epitaphs in ANOTHER MOTHER DOES NOT COME WHEN YOURS DIES navigate through scenes, fragments and meditations to skilfully and delicately craft raw and honest collages about the difficult transition from suffocation to coming up for air. The ingenuity of this text lies in its bold challenge to linearity, there is an unwavering and unrelenting loyalty towards emotive integrity rather than being bound to a single genre or form. A haunting bildungsroman-like piece, the work centres the lived-experience from girlhood to womanhood whilst exorcizing the stubborn shapeshifting shadows of patriarchy. The admirable quality of this work is in its unique exploration of nuanced and specific phenomena such as the Zambian church experience, the linguistic collisions between Bemba and English and particularly black motherhood from being nurtured to becoming nurturer. With the feel of an illusory mirage, this work is most rewarding once one resists the urge to grab at the story instead embracing the full experience coming in waves. The true power in these introspections rests in the acknowledgment of the everchanging shape of a grief we humans tend to carry and how we ought to find a place to put it down. ” – Sihle Ntuli, author of Zabalaza Republic

“Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies will be unmissable” – The Tusculum Review

“Kalimamukwento is an author who has perfected her craft. Brilliant.” –  Rešoketšwe Manenzhe, author of Scatterlings

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