Some people often ignore the fact that writers respond to the HIV&AIDS
pandemic by using it as a theme in their poetry, fiction, and plays.
Steve Chimombo started recording the writers' responses as early as 1990
and wrote 'AIDS and the Writer' in WASI: the magazine for the arts. The
article reported the results of a poetry competition organized by the
Ministry of Health on the theme, and there have been other competitions
also by different institutions since then. Some radio and television
programs have also called upon the writer to help in the dissemination
of information to their listeners. The Hyena Wears Darkness is the
author's own contribution to the national Malawian campaign to educate
the public on the pandemic. Its focus is on those cultural practices
which help propagate HIV/AIDS in Malawian society.