Professor Mapanje, who has a long relationship with the English programme at the University, was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree for his outstanding contribution to literature and poetry by the University at its graduation ceremonies in November.

Professor Mapanje was Head of the Department of English at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, when he was arrested and put in prison on the order of Life President Hastings Kamuzu Banda in September 1987.

Professor Mapanje was kept in prison for three years, seven months, sixteen days and twelve hours, without charge and without trial.

Almost immediately, Professor Mapanje was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, with additional support from PEN International, Africa Watch and Human Rights Watch. Finally released as part of an annual amnesty on Banda’s birthday, Professor Mapanje went into exile with his family in the United Kingdom, where they have lived ever since.

Deprived of pen and paper while in prison, Professor Mapanje began to compose poems orally, memorising them word for word, so he could write them down for publication following his release. Even now, Professor Mapanje will suddenly remember a poem he wrote in prison, still in his memory word for word.

Since his release from prison, Professor Mapanje has published a number of volumes of poetry, including The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison (1993), Skipping Without Ropes (1998), The Last of the Sweet Bananas (2004) and Beasts of Nalunga (2007), which was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize.

After decades of work, Professor Mapanje recently published And Crocodiles are Hungry at Night(2011), a comprehensive recollection of the years he spent in Mikuyu Prison.

Besides performing his work at numerous national and international literature festivals, Professor Mapanje has appeared on the BBC Radio Four programmes Start the Week and Desert Island Discs.

The reading will take place from 11am to noon in the University’s Gateway Building and is open to all students and staff at the University, as well as the local community.