Interview with Iris Mwanza
It’s the time of year everyone talks about books— the best ones to take to the beach, great summer reads. But I find my attention span for reading wanes in the summer, which might be why I seek out books that are easy to get through. Blessedly slim novels, books promising to keep me turning the page. That’s what Iris Mwanza’s debut novel offered: a thriller with emotional texture. Sold.
The Lion’s Den is told from the perspective of Grace, a passionate rookie attorney practicing in Zambia. She’s assigned to work on her firm’s first pro bono case: Wilbess “Bessy” Mulenga, a young queer dancer who has been arrested. After trying to stand up to the police for beating her client, Grace is barred from seeing Bessy as she tries to fight past deeply embedded corruption and homophobia. It’s a quick read, but also deeply affecting, exploring hope in the face of oppression.
I’m so happy Iris agreed to this interview!
Can you share this novel's path to publication?
I've been thinking about the issues for a long time but my actual writing process was a labor of love (on and off) for seven to nine years, depending on how you count it. I was lucky enough to find my incredible agent, Ian Bonaparte of Janklow Nesbitt, pretty quickly after I finished the manuscript. Ian then sold the book to two publishing houses, Canongate in the UK and Commonwealth, and Graydon House (HarperCollins Imprint) in the US. Adding time for editorial input, it was nine years from beginning to end. So you can imagine how delighted I am to see the novel out in the world.
I admire how while your novel has a strong plot, it also has rich emotional texture. Was it hard to balance the two on the page?
Thank you! I'm happy that you found both in the balance in the book. I wasn't conscious of it, but I was trying to reflect Grace's inner emotions honestly. She's a young, inexperienced rookie lawyer from a poor, rural background, so she’s in a precarious situation and struggling herself as she's fighting for her client Bessy. Grace is a fictional character so it sounds a bit bonkers but I felt a profound connection to her that was very real.
Can you share some reading recommendations?
Three books I've read recently that I highly recommend:
Fi by Alexandra Fuller: It broke my heart because I knew and loved Fi, but it's also the greatest gift for anyone who has lost a loved one - a roadmap out of profound grief. You will bawl, for sure, but very surprisingly you will laugh hard too.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann: It's nonfiction and everything that happens is in the title, but the book still manages to deliver so many unexpected twists and turns.
Greenland by David Santos Donaldson: This is a wildly creative blend of fact and fiction that travels through time and place from E.M. Forster's love affair with Mohammed, a married tram driver in Egypt, to Kip's struggles as a writer and Black, gay man in modern day Brooklyn, to self-discovery in Greenland.
Is there a song (or songs) that ties into the novel in some way?
The Lions’ Den is set in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, so songs that were popular at that time were my writing soundtrack and feature in the novel. Some global hits like Prince’s “Sign of the Times,” or Madonna’s “Like a Prayer;” regional ones, like Franco and the OK Jazz Band's “La Vie des Hommes” (then Zaire and now Democratic Republic of Congo), Brenda and the Big Dudes' “Weekend Special” (South Africa); and a local Zambian favorite, 'Smokey' Hangala whose voice was as beautiful and soulful as Smokey Robinson.
Thank you, Iris!