‘Sam Mpasu was an original author’
Malawi Writers Union (Mawu) President, Sambalikagwa Mvona, Thursday said he was shocked with the death of veteran writer Sam Mpasu.
Mpasu, until his death Thursday, was the writers body’s ac ting board chairperson.
“We, as Mawu, are shocked with Sam Mpasu’s death. As Mawu he was our pillar and advisor and was always there during our different meetings,” Mvona said.
He described Mpasu as an original author, who was writing what he was seeing.
“If you read all his novels, from the first one Nobody’s Friend to the one which he wrote after coming out of prison, you will notice that he was an original writer,” Mvona said.
The Mawu leader said Mpasu was a great motivator to budding writers.
“Most budding writers learned a lot from him. He was always there, giving advice. He was the only politician who knew where he was coming from and combined politics Mvona said there are writers who have joined politics and ended up forgetting their artistry.
“The last time we were with him was during a meeting in December, when we gathered to map the way forward on the writing and reading culture, which has gone down. He was among the few veteran writers who came [to the meeting] and never complained when invited,” he said.
Mvona said Mawu and the creative industry will miss Mpasu’s pieces of advice.
Book Publishers Association of Malawi (Bpam) and Malawi Pen President, Alfred Msadala, also said Mpasu’s death has dealt a big blow to the creative industry.
“It’s sad that Sam Mpasu is no more. He was more of a mentor to me. He concentrated more on prose and most of his writings were to do with his life but he presented it in a fictional way and one could see the man in his writing,” Msadala said.
The author of A Ragged Portfolio of My Portrait, A Rumbling Journey Towards the Joys of Writing Memoirs said Mpasu’s writing was exceptional and that he was not surprised that he became a politician.
Professor Pascal Kishindo said he was saddened with the news of Mpasu’s passing.
“I would think of him as a political writer, the way Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a political writer, committed to changing society for the better,” Kishindo said.
Mpasu authored three books namely Nobody’s Friend, which was published in 1975 and then republished in 1995 by African Publishing Group.
He wrote the book, which later got him arrested, while he was in Germany.
Mpasu then authored Political Prisoner 3/75 in 1995 while his third book, The Hare and Other Folktales, published in 2015.
Born in 1945, the veteran author and former Speaker of Parliament was found dead at his house in Blantyre.
He was from Khuzi Village, Traditional Authority Kwataine, in Ntcheu District.
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