Editor Interview: Ubwali

Art by Zambian writers.

Our partner magazine, Shenandoah, ranks high on our list of inspirations. Much of our work is only possible through their support, and we also draw strength from other African magazines that continue the vital work of archiving and expanding the African literary canon.

All the writers we publish become favourites, as our connection with them often continues beyond publication—some return as students in our masterclasses, others as instructors, a few as readers, and even some as editors.

Mainly, the fact that our primary focus is on work by Zambian writers and photographers. But we hope our presence will encourage other editors in Zambia to build similar spaces.

Read! Not just what we publish, but also the work of writers you admire. Read as if it were nourishment, because it is. The care you take as a reader will always show in the quality of your writing.
And don’t be afraid to send us a genre you haven’t seen in the magazine. We’re still young, and we’re always excited to feature a style or a writer we’ve never published before.

One that has been written and rewritten so many times that all we have to do is read and format. Those are very few and far between, but when a piece is submitted that has been crafted so carefully that our only task as editors is to enjoy it, this is apparent right away, and we feel so honoured to have been considered as a home for it. That said, we are never looking for perfection. Submit, even if you know there is more you can do, and especially if you don't know what that more is. We are an editing magazine, and we pride ourselves on holding our writers’ hands to the publication line.

Formatting. Which is a tiny issue when it's just one piece, but can be a lot of work when it's several.

We don't care about cover letters or previous publication credits. We care only that:
The work is good.
The submitter is eligible:
May and July submissions: Zambian writers located anywhere in the world.
January submissions: Zambian writers located anywhere in the world and African writers based on the continent.

We have a dedicated team of readers who read every piece all the way to the end before assessing and either passing on it or forwarding it to the section editor. I read all the pieces regardless of how the readers decide, and I often know within the first few lines (for poetry) or the first paragraphs (for prose) whether it will be a yes or a no. Usually, we are in agreement, but there have been times when a piece was an absolute no for one of us and an absolute yes for another. Most of the time, the yes wins.

The section editors decide, sometimes in consultation with me or the entire editorial team. These different levels ensure that we don’t have just one style represented among the accepted pieces. In any case, each piece is usually edited developmentally before copy editing.

It is a lot of administrative work—making sure the order of the pieces makes sense and that they look consistent stylistically so they fit cohesively on the website alongside other work we have published. I am also usually engaged in multiple conversations with the different editors, instructors, students, and sometimes writers, to prepare for upcoming projects for the magazine.

It depends on the piece. A lot more editing goes into the prose pieces than the poetry pieces, owing to the different length expectations and form choices. The goal is to make the piece its best self and ensure the author's voice shines through—never to superimpose the editor's aesthetics onto the work. Most of us are writers ourselves, so we respect the effort that goes into producing a piece. In all cases, the author is involved from start to finish, even during proofreading and copy editing, and they must approve a piece before we publish it. This can sometimes involve a significant back-and-forth. The platform is ours, yes, but the author’s name is what is attached to the work itself, so it’s important they are absolutely happy with it when it goes out into the world.

We consider all the work we publish for nominations, including Best of the Net and Pushcart.

It is self-funded with the help of donations on our PayPal - https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=62ZM68BKKATZS

We use social media (X, Facebook and Instagram). We offer scholarships to our Masterclass for previously published authors and nominate them for prizes whenever possible.