Book Event: The Shipikisha Club by Mubanga Kalimamukwento

We are excited to welcome back Mubanga Kalimamukwento to celebrate the release of The Shipikisha Club!

Kabwe, Zambia: Sali, a working mother of three, stands trial for the M**der of her husband, Kasunga. The prosecutor claims Sali shot him after a heated fight in their bedroom. There are no witnesses. Sali pleads not guilty.

But her story does not begin with a gun. It begins fourteen years earlier--with her rebellion against the pressure to find a husband, her affair with a wealthy married man called Doc, and her discovery that she's pregnant on the same day of Doc's unexpected death.

To avoid the shame of being an unwed mother, Sali accepts Kasunga's proposal, and finds herself suddenly thrust into the shipikisha club: her society's expectations that it is a wife's duty to endure. Over the years, Sali navigates her husband's infidelities and alcohol-filled nights, their money troubles, and her postpartum depression in silence. Until the day she speaks her mind, and Kasunga puts a gun in her face.

The trial is a national scandal. Many are called to testify--the maid, Kasunga's mother, and Ntash , Sali's fifteen-year-old daughter. Even after Sali's diary is dissected and laid bare for all to see, Sali calls no witnesses to her defense. With Kasunga gone, only Sali will ever know the truth. But is the truth enough?

Told through the rotating perspectives of Sali, Ntash , and Sali's mother Peggy, The Shipikisha Club is a riveting story of gender politics in Zambia and the world at large--a must-read for fans of Peace Adzo Medie, Abi Dar , and Tayari P. Jones.

Mubanga was born in Lusaka, Zambia. Her creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in , , Aster(ix), Contemporary Verse 2, , Overland, , Menelique, on Netflix, and elsewhere, and her editorial work can be found or is forthcoming in Shenandoah, the Water~Stone Review, Doek! Literary Magazine and Safundi. She founded and co-founded the . When she’s not writing or editing, Mubanga serves as a Mentor at the Minnesota Pr*son Writing Workshop. She is a PhD student in the Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota (Twin-Cities), where she is also an Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) Scholar. Mubanga lives in Minnesota with her husband and their two children.

Accessibility: This event is hosted at the bookstore, which is a wheelchair accessible space. Masks are required. We have one industrial air-purifier, two smaller air-purifiers, and four ceiling fans located throughout the store. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you need a seat reserved for you for accessibility, please email [email protected] To request ASL interpretation for this event, please email [email protected] by no later than 14 days before the event. For scholarship tickets or other access needs please email .

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Host or Publisher Women & Children First