Zambian Author Makes BBC List Of 100 Inspiring Women

Zambian author and playwright Mulenga Mpundu Kapwepwe has been included in the BBC’s list of the 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2020. 

Ms Kapwepwe co-founded the Zambian Women’s History Museum, which has been praised for commemorating the contributions of Zambian women to the building of their nation. She has also built a number of children’s libraries in Lusaka.

From 2004 to 2017 Ms Kapwepwe chaired the National Arts Council of Zambia and she has also served as patron for a number of other arts organisations, helping to foster dance, writing, music and culture in Zambia.

As an author Kapwepwe is best known for her 1998 work ‘Heart of the Cyclone’ which won the Ngoma award for best creative writing, and Chiti My Luba, which won four awards in 1999.

The annual list by the British broadcaster serves to highlight those women who are leading change and making a difference during these turbulent times. 

Also on the list are Sanna Marin, who leads Finland’s all-female coalition government, Michelle Yeoh, star of the Avatar and Marvel films, and Sarah Gilbert, who heads the Oxford University research into a coronavirus vaccine.