In 2023, Southern Africa was hit by a devastating tropical cyclone, Freddy. Malawi was affected the most, with landslides and mudslides killing more than 1,000 people and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. In this lecture, Professor Nick Mdika Tembo discusses systemic vulnerabilities and the role of different actors in disaster risk reduction and management. Join us to explore how trauma connects past and present, revealing enduring emotional and physical scars left by the cyclone.

Nick Mdika Tembo is a Professor of English in the Department of Literary Studies at the University of Malawi. He is also a Research Fellow in the Department of English at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He has previously held various managerial positions, including the Head of Literary Studies Department at the University of Malawi, and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Catholic University of Malawi. The primary focus of his research is on trauma and memory studies and his thematic fields include holocaust and genocide studies, childhood studies, child soldier narratives, African life writing, and social media technologies.

Recorded lecture