Sitting down with Susannah Dickey, Chingonyi interspersed music and extracts from the memoir, taking the audience on a journey of disclosure, diving into the radical intimacy of saying: 'here is my story, have you also experienced this?'
Letting his work and words sway his body to and fro, Chingonyi spoke of fiction and its connection to truth, the haunting nature of contacts in our phones, his mum’s favourite album by PK Chishala - which he has now inherited on vinyl - and the cyclical rhythm of Bemba.
These discussions centred around the main contents of Prodigal, aiming to piece together a more complete understanding of his writing process, along with re-experiencing his father’s death due to an HIV-related illness, and his return to Zambia after 25 years. This narrative captures the complex emotions involved in losing both parents, and the struggle of shaping one's future without fully grasping the past.
The main message the memoir and this event as a whole, was to open a space of opportunity and integration for other writers and artists. Chingonyi said he was excited to see the dialogue that his memoir will illicit, and is enlivened by other people's interpretations of his work; how they attach their own narratives.
He finished his talk by playing 'Hold Me' a song by Irish-Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Shiv about wanting to be held by your mum.
It was a sentimental send-off and a reminder to reach out to your family and loved ones before they become ghosts of your past.
I want, I want, I want you to hold me like you did when I was younger...
