Publisher: Vita Books, Kenya
Constimocrazy
Malafricanising Democracy
The lyrical pessimism of Nsah Mala’s poetry presents a world characterized by violence, inhumanity and destruction, a world that is sadly too familiar. While many of the poems address contemporary issues in the poet’s native Cameroon, much of the human-inflicted damage they describe is not limited to ‘Cam-Kingdom’. Although much of the content is negative, many of the poems contain questions. These questions express the cynical voice of this politically committed poet, but behind them lies the distant possibility of a better version of the world in which values of love, peace and unity reign: ‘Don’t we know,’ the poet asks, ‘that violence is out of fashion?’
– Professor Nicki Hitchcott, University of St Andrews, UK
£16.00
About the author
Nsah Mala is a poet and writer from Mbesa, Cameroon. He writes in
Iteanghe-a-Mbesa, English, and French. He has published five poetry
collections: Chaining Freedom, Bites of Insanity, If You Must Fall Bush,
CONSTIMOCRAZY: Malafricanising Democracy, and Les Pleurs du mal
(French). In 2016, he won the Ministry of Arts and Culture Short Story
Prize in Cameroon and le Prix Littéraire Malraux in France in 2017. As a
writer for children, his published picture books include: Andolo – the
Talented Albino (English), Andolo – l’albinos talentueux (French), and
Le petit Gabriel commence à lire (French). He translated the picture
book Be a Coronavirus Fighter (Yeehoo Press) into French as Un
Combattant du Coronavirus in March 2020. Nsah Mala’s picture book, What
the Moon Cooks, will be published in spring 2021 by POW! Kids Books
(USA).