Amazon.com: The Heinemann Book of African Poetry in English (African Writers Series) (9780435913236): Adewale Maja-Pearce: Books

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1990 | ISBN-10: 0435913239 | ISBN-13: 978-0435913236 | Edition: 3rd

This anthology represents some of the best African poetry written in English in the last 30 years. The poets include Wole Soyinka, Dennis Brutus, Kojo Laing, Chenjerai Hove and Gabriel Gbadamosi.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } This anthology represents some of the best African poetry written in English in the last 30 years. The poets include Wole Soyinka, Dennis Brutus, Kojo Laing, Chenjerai Hove and Gabriel Gbadamosi.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The works Maja-Pearce ( Loyalties and Other Stories ) has selected, all written in English by poets from Nigeria, Ghana and other African countries over the past 30 years, attest to the vision and fearless commitment of their authors--well-known political critics, such as Dennis Brutus and Wole Soyinka, writers imprisoned or in exile such as Jack Mapanje and Frank Chipasula, and others. These poets mourn the loss of African tradition and condemn the oppressive postcolonial societies that have replaced it. Soyinka describes how "A crop of arms dethrones the ancient / Reign of lush, compliant plains" and "Tearless as dried leaves, whose stalks / Are sealed from waste, we shed green hopes." Arthur Nortje, who killed himself in exile, declares that "It is not cosmic immensity of catastrophe / that terrifies me: / It is solitude that mutilates." His alienation echoes the belief expressed throughout this very fine volume: ultimately, the past must be abandoned so that a new future can be fashioned, requiring what Kojo Laing called "a strong will to reshape / her heart for her own sad life."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Nigeria In The Year 1999 by Catherine Obianuju Acholonu
Other Forms Of Slaughter by Catherine Obianuju Acholonu
3. An American Memory Of Africa by Kofi Awoonor
America by Kofi Awoonor
The First Circle by Kofi Awoonor
Long Island Sketches X: On Having Been An Experimental... by Kofi Awoonor
Songs Of Sorrow by Kofi Awoonor
To Dennis Brutus by Kofi Awoonor
To The Eminent Scholar And Meddler by Kofi Awoonor
The Weaver Bird Built In Our House by Kofi Awoonor
For My Sons And Daughters by Dennis Brutus
Nightsong: City by Dennis Brutus
Postscripts 2 by Dennis Brutus
Robben Island Sequence by Dennis Brutus
A Simple Lust Is All My Woe. by Dennis Brutus
Sometimes A Mesh Of Ideas. by Dennis Brutus
Their Behaviour by Dennis Brutus
Letter To A Tormented Playwright by Syl Cheney-coker
On Being A Poet In Sierra Leone by Syl Cheney-coker
The Outsider by Syl Cheney-coker
A Death Song by Steve Chimombo
Derailment: A Delirium by Steve Chimombo
Four Ways Of Dying by Steve Chimombo
Napolo: The Messengers by Steve Chimombo
Obituary by Steve Chimombo
Of Promises And Prophecy by Steve Chimombo
Because The Wind Remembers by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Dusk by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Friend, Ah You Have Changed! by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Going Back Patiently by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
A Love Poem For My Country by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Manifesto On Ars Poetica by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
My Blood Brother by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
My Friendly People by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Ritual Girl by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Talking Of Sharp Things by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Those Rainy Mornings by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Tramp by Frank Mkalawile Chipasula
Abiku by J. P. Clark Bekederemo
The Casualties by J. P. Clark Bekederemo
Death Of A Lady by J. P. Clark Bekederemo
Epilogue To Casualties by J. P. Clark Bekederemo
A Family Procession by J. P. Clark Bekederemo
The News From Ethiopia And The Sudan by J. P. Clark Bekederemo
The Order Of The Dead by J. P. Clark Bekederemo
Death Of The Polar Explorers by Gabriel Gbadamosi
The Reading by Gabriel Gbadamosi
Sango's Son Came Down To The River, Fr. Sango by Gabriel Gbadamosi
Child's Parliament by Chenjerai Hove
Country Life by Chenjerai Hove
Lost Bird by Chenjerai Hove
Migratory Bird I by Chenjerai Hove
The Other Syllabus by Chenjerai Hove
Red Hills Of Home by Chenjerai Hove
You Will Forget by Chenjerai Hove
African Sky by Bernard Kojo Laing
Godhorse by Bernard Kojo Laing
The Huge Car With The Sad Voice. by Bernard Kojo Laing
Many Worlds Are Walked Once by Bernard Kojo Laing
One Hundred Lines For The Coast by Bernard Kojo Laing
Race On Gathering Bites by Bernard Kojo Laing
The Same Corpse by Bernard Kojo Laing
Senior Lady Sells Garden Eggs by Bernard Kojo Laing
Tatale Swine by Bernard Kojo Laing
August The First: Court Martial. The Mother Speaks by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
August The First: The Shadow. Patel Speaks by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
August The First: The Watchman Speaks by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
Mathenge by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
Omera by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
Another Fools' Day Touches Down... by Jack A. Mapanje
The Cheerful Girls At Smiller's Bar, 1971 by Jack A. Mapanje
Florrie Abraham Witness, Sels. by Jack A. Mapanje
Glory Be To Chingwe's Hole by Jack A. Mapanje
Making Our Clowns Martyrs by Jack A. Mapanje
Messages by Jack A. Mapanje
On African Writing by Jack A. Mapanje
These Too Are Our Elders by Jack A. Mapanje
We Wondered About The Mellow Peaches by Jack A. Mapanje
Why The Old Woman Limps by Lupenga Mphande
The Wood-cutter by Lupenga Mphande
Asseverations by Arthur Nortje
At Lansdowne Bridge by Arthur Nortje
Autopsy by Arthur Nortje
Cosmos In London by Arthur Nortje
Letter From Pretoria Central Prison by Arthur Nortje
Native's Letter by Arthur Nortje
Newcombe At The Croydon Gallery by Arthur Nortje
Waiting by Arthur Nortje
Beyond Fear by Odia Ofeimun
A Handle For The Flutist by Odia Ofeimun
How Can I Sing by Odia Ofeimun
Judgement Day by Odia Ofeimun
Let Them Choose Paths by Odia Ofeimun
A Naming Day by Odia Ofeimun
The Poet Lied by Odia Ofeimun
Prologue... by Odia Ofeimun
On Reading An Archaeological Article by Molara Ogundipe-leslie
Song At The African Middle Class by Molara Ogundipe-leslie
Launching Our Community Development Fund by Tanure Ojaide
Ward 6 by Tanure Ojaide
What They Said... by Tanure Ojaide
When Tomorrow Is Too Long by Tanure Ojaide
Come Thunder by Christopher Okigbo
Elegy For Alto (with Drum Accompaniment) by Christopher Okigbo
Elegy For Slit-drum by Christopher Okigbo
Hurrah For Thunder by Christopher Okigbo
Thunder Can Break by Christopher Okigbo
Excursion by Niyi Osundare
Eyeful Glances by Niyi Osundare
Goree by Niyi Osundare
The Maddening Moon, Fr. Moonsongs by Niyi Osundare
Moonsongs (1) by Niyi Osundare
Moonsongs (2) by Niyi Osundare
Our Earth Will Not Die by Niyi Osundare
We Called The Statue, Fr. Moonsongs by Niyi Osundare
Who Says That Drought Was Here? by Niyi Osundare
Homecoming by Lenrie Peters
I Am Asking About The Way Ahead. by Lenrie Peters
After The Deluge by Wole Soyinka
Apologia (nkomati) by Wole Soyinka
Fado Singer by Wole Soyinka
No! He Said by Wole Soyinka
Steel Usurps The Forests; Silence Dethrones Dialogue by Wole Soyinka
Arrivants by Musaemure (masaemura) Bonas Zimunya
Kisimiso by Musaemure (masaemura) Bonas Zimunya
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®