Tears in the fogs of chikangawa and other poems

Tears in the Fogs of Chikangawa and Other Poems is a collection of poems written over more than twenty years by Malawian poet Richard L. Chimunthu. The book unfolds in three parts: poems that confront political injustice, colonial legacy, and social suffering; intimate portraits of community heroes and ordinary lives; and vivid scenes from daily life along the shores of Lake Malawi and beyond. Chimunthu writes with honesty and deep love for his land. He gives shape to the silenced and forgotten, especially those displaced by conflict, those who grieve, those who act bravely, and those trapped in the absurdities of life. His verse carries the music of ChiTonga speech, the sweep of Mwera winds, and the landscapes of Nkhotakota, Mzuzu, and Chikangawa, while touching universal themes of love, betrayal, power, loss, and resilience. Some of the poems remember and mourn the nine lives lost in Chikangawa's fogs, honour the freedom fighters who helped break Kamuzu Banda's rule, and find beauty in small things such as a tambala coin, a swarm of lakeflies, the quiet kindness of a tearoom keeper at Zalo. Tears in the Fogs of Chikangawa is a lasting tribute to the people, places, and struggles that shape Malawi