Ellen Banda-Aaku

Ellen Banda-Aaku (born Ellen Banda, 6 May 1965) is a Zambian writer who was born in the UK and grew up in Africa.^[1] She was educated at the University of Zambia, where she obtained her BA in Public Administration. She also holds an MA in Financial Management with Social Policy from Middlesex University and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town.

Writing career

Ellen Banda-Aaku’s first book, Wandi’s Little Voice, won the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa in 2004. Of the title, the judges stated that the author’s style reveals a rare gift for revealing the truth and contradictions at the core of human relationships. In 2007 she won the Commonwealth Short Story Competition for her story "Sozi’s Box". Her first novel, Patchwork, won the 2010 Penguin Prize for African writing^[2] and was shortlisted for the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize. Patchwork is currently being translated into German. In 2006 Banda-Aaku sat on the judging panel for the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa. In 2012 she was awarded the Zambia Arts Council Chairpersons Ngoma award for her outstanding achievements in literature. She has conducted creative writing workshops in Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

Her short stories have been published in anthologies in Australia, South Africa, the UK and the US. She has won several awards for her writing, including the Macmillan Writers Prize for Africa – Most Promising New Writer Award in 2004, Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2007 and Penguin Prize for African Writing in 2010. She was also nominated for the Commonwealth Book Prize in 2012.

Published works

Short stories

• "Sozi’s Box" (winner of the 2007 Commonwealth Short Story Competition). Published in Cousin’s Across the Seas, Phoenix Education, Australia. ISBN 978-1-921085-73-4
• "Lost", in Jambula Tree and other stories, The Caine Prize for African Writing, 8th Annual Collection, Jacana Press, South Africa. ISBN 978-1-904456-73-5
• "Made of Mukwa", in The Bed Book of Short Stories, Modjaji Press, South Africa. ISBN 978-1-920397-31-9
• "Ngomwa", in African Women Writing Resistance: Contemporary Voices, Wisconsin Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-299-23664-9

Novels

• Patchwork, Penguin Publishers, South Africa, 2011. ISBN 978-0-14-352753-4.^[3]
• Madam 1st Lady, 2016.^[4]

Books for children

• Wandi’s Little Voice, Macmillan Educational Publishers, UK, 2004. ISBN 978-1-4050-6040-0
• Yours Faithfully Yogi, East African Educational Publishers, Kenya, 2008. ISBN 978-9966-25-556-3
• Twelve Months, Oxford University Press, Kenya, 2010. ISBN 978-0-19-573609-0
• Lula & Lebo, Head and Shoulders, Puo Publishing, South Africa. ISBN 978-0-9814386-7-2
• E is for e-waste, Worldreader, online publication.
• Sula and Ja, Farafina Tuuti (Kachifo Limited) and Worldreader.

Further reading

• Author Profiles, Ellen Banda-Aaku. African Writing Online, many literatures, one voice, ISSN 1754-6672 No. 11. Accessed 10 February 2013.
• Browdy de Henandez, J., P. Dongala, O. Jolaosho, & A. Serafin (eds), 2010. African Writing Resistance Contemporary Voices, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Press.
• Danro, A., 2011. "Ellen Banda-Aaku: A gifted writer", Times of Zambia, Lusaka. 26 February.
• Kwei. R., 2004. "Women Here And There: Ellen Wins Macmillan’s Children’s Writer Award", Daily Graphic, Accra. 25 March.
• Malan, R., ed. 2009. A – Z of African Writers: A guide to modern African writing in English. South Africa, Shuter & Shooter.
• The Best of Zambia. 2011. Global Village Encyclopaedia GVPedia, Lusaka, Image Promotions.
• 14th Time of the Writer, 2011. Accessed 9 February 2013.

References