Ubwali Literary Magazine is thrilled to announce the winner of the 2026 Ubwali Hope Prize as Musonda Mukuka for her essay “Tethered,” published in the magazine’s sixth issue. Musonda wins publication in the fall issue of Shenandoah Literary Magazine and a prize of $500 upon publication, future publication in the Journal of African Youth and Literature (JAY Lit), and a year-long mentorship with Ubwali Literary Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Mubanga Kalimamukwento.
In partnership with Shenandoah, the Ubwali Hope Prize celebrates the best of Zambian prose and poetry. The previous winners, Mukandi Siame and Isaac Kanyinji, both received a $500 award, and their winning work appears in Shenandoah. This year’s competition proved even more competitive, with the editors selecting a shortlist of six.
Judges Isaac Kanyinji, Mubanga Kalimamukwento, and Mukandi Siame faced the arduous task of choosing a winner from a diverse and talented shortlist. The entries included: a poem that brings Kitwe to life; a short story chronicling survival on the streets of Lusaka; a personal essay about identity in limbo between Zambia and Kenya; and a poem in which death is as close as breath. After a spirited discussion on the merits of each piece, a clear winner emerged.
Judges Citation:
“With masterful precision, Musonda Mukuka packs into this brief but splendid essay the often disorienting experience of migration, beginning in a country on the cusp of a devastating epidemic, and nearly ending 2000 kilometers away, with the disappearance of a child. A child herself in these recollections, Musonda’s retelling and pen is startlingly calm. “Tethered” is a small but mighty essay––the story of a gracious observer who manages to render even the most unexpected events in the tenderest of light: from the comfort she locates in the sanitised sterility of the hospital; to empathy for her parents when they faced the unimaginable, and a keen-eyed self-awareness encapsulated in ‘…all the things you cannot carefully fold into a suitcase and take with you. For every syllable of their mother’s tongue slipping away from their children’s mouths. ’ A deserved win.”
In Musonda’s words:
“My hopes for this piece of writing were the same as my hopes for every piece of writing once it has left my care: that the words would mean something to someone other than me. What has followed has surpassed those hopes and expectations, and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped make this significant milestone in my writing journey possible, as well as for all the small moments of personal discovery, experimentation with words, and refinement of technique that brought me here. Thank you.”
Musonda Mukuka is a Zambian journalist and emerging creative writer whose poetry and short stories have appeared in Ubwali Literary Magazine. She contributed to the Lover’s Rock anthology published by Bold Ambition Books, and one of her short stories is forthcoming in Copper Monstera’s “The Boy in the Red Car and Other Stories. ” She took part in the inaugural Ubwali Masterclass and is a 2025 Modzi Arts artist-in-residence. In addition to her creative writing, she has contributed numerous articles to Nkwazi Magazine and other platforms. She was selected as a screenwriter for the 2026 Zambian Women in Film and Television Short Film Festival Lab. Read Musonda’s winning essay here.
Congratulations, Musonda!
