Iris Mwanza — The Lions’ Den with Tayla Burney

When young queer dancer Wilbess “Bessy” Mulenga is arrested by corrupt police, fresh-from-the-village rookie lawyer Grace Zulu takes up his cause in her first pro bono case. Presented with a freshly beaten client, Grace protests to the police and gets barred from accessing Bessy, who then disappears from the system–and the world–without a trace. As she fights for justice for Bessy, Grace must navigate a dangerous world of corrupt politicians, traditional beliefs, and deep-seated homophobia.

With the help of a former freedom fighter and the head of her law firm, who’s rallying for one last fight as AIDS takes its toll on him, Grace brings together a coalition of unions, students, and political opposition to take on the corrupt administration of President Kaunda. But will justice prevail in the face of such overwhelming odds?

The Lions’ Den is a gripping and enduring novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. With unforgettable characters and a thrilling plot, Iris Mwanza has announced herself as a major new talent in fiction.

Iris Mwanza is deputy director of the Gender Equality Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she leads strategy and investment for the Women in Leadership portfolio, and she serves on the Care International Supervisory Board and the board of directors of World Wildlife Fund US. She has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and law degrees from Cornell University and the University of Zambia.

Mwanza will be in conversation with Tayla Burney. Burney is a long-time public radio producer who worked for years on author interviews and book events. Now on the Programming team at NPR, she helped launch – and still occasionally guest edits – the Book of the Day podcast. Tayla’s writing and reviews have appeared in the Washington Independent Review of Books and the Washington Post, among other publications. She hopes you spend all of your book dollars at local indies and have at least two library cards to your name.