Sousa Jamba (born 9 January 1966)"Who's Who - Angola: Sousa Jamba"
''Africa Confidential''. is an

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n author and journalist.

Biography

Sousa Jamba was born in 1966 in Dondi,

Huambo Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa (English: ''New Lisbon''), is the third-most populous city in Angola, after the capital city Luanda and Lubango, with a population of 595,304 in the city and a population of 713,134 in the municipality of Huambo (Cen ...

, in central Angola. His family were all supporters of the

National Union for the Total Independence of Angola The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

(UNITA), which fought alongside the

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social d ...

(the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) in the

Angolan War for Independence The Angolan War of Independence (; 1961–1974), called in Angola the ("Armed Struggle of National Liberation"), began as an uprising against forced cultivation of cotton, and it became a multi-faction struggle for the control of Portugal ...

(1961–75) and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war (1975–2002). In 1975, nine-year-old Jamba with his family left the country, fleeing the violence following Angola's independence, and went to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, where he lived as a refugee,Sean Rogers
"Sousa Jamba"
''The Literary Encyclopedia'', 18 February 2009. before going to England. Jamba has said: "There was a sense that if you were from Unita you either had to leave the country or go out into the bush, which is precisely what my family did." In 1985 Jamba returned to Angola, and worked as a reporter and translator for the UNITA News Agency. In 1986, he went to study in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

on a journalism scholarship, and soon began writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. From 1988 to 1991 he studied for a BA degree in Media Studies at Westminster University,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He also has a master's degree in Leadership and Strategic Communications from

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He returned to his home country after 27 years of exile."Author Jamba's emotional homecoming"
BBC News, 6 January 2004. Jamba's books include ''Patriots'' (1992), an autobiographical work of fiction that received much critical acclaim. Andrew McKie of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' writes of it: "Sousa Jamba's brilliant and terrifying (and often very funny) novel Patriots gives an account of a child's view of the war in Angola." Jamba's second novel, ''A Lonely Devil'', was published in 1993. He has written widely for newspapers and journals, among them ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'', ''

'' and the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

''.Sousa Jamba page
at ''

''. He writes a weekly column for the Angolan newspaper ''Semanario Angolense''. He also writes a column on leadership for the business magazine ''

Exame ''Exame'' is a fortnightly magazine specializing in economics, business, politics and technology published by Editora Abril, in São Paulo, Brazil. It reports news, reviews and tips about business, sales, investments, economics, environment, techn ...

''. He currently lives in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, USA.

Bibliography

* ''A Lonely Devil'' (1993) * ''On The Banks Of The Zambezi'' (1993) * ''Patriots'' (1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamba, Sousa 1966 births Living people Angolan writers People from Huambo Province 20th-century novelists Angolan journalists 20th-century male writers