Publisher: Vita Books, Kenya
Pages: 108
Year: 2020
Category: Anthologies & Collections, Literature, Poetry
Dimensions: 254 x 178mm
Corpses of Unity
An Anthology of Poems
Cameroon is no longer a peace-haven in Central Africa. This
bilingual poetry anthology is a literary response to the avoidable but
worsening and under-reported fratricidal war in Anglophone Cameroon.
Written in English and French, the anthology brings together
thirty-three poets from thirteen countries in Africa and beyond. The
poets are concerned with the blood baths, burnings and other crimes
committed in Anglophone Cameroon in the name of unity or division. Their
poems paint raw images of the cruel killings of old people, pregnant
women and children like those of #NgarbuhMassacre. They excavate the
hidden mass graves and unveil the countless villages reduced to ashes
and rubble. They recall the burning of animals and food and the brutal
killing of nurses, patients and teachers. Their stanzas meander along
with refugees in forests into Nigeria, into the jungles of Mexico en
route to the US, and elsewhere. It is poetry speaking for human life and
dignity, for peace and education, for inclusive dialogue, for
reconciliation. It is poetry which should ruffle the consciences of
those doing business in war, those pulling strings behind curtains,
those who see oil before humans, those who trigger guns at their own
brothers, sisters and parents, those who give orders to kill—in short,
those who enjoy warfare as they profit from the spoils of war. This
anthology seeks to raise global awareness on this forgotten war as a way
of contributing to justice, healing, and peace in Cameroon.
£20.00 – £21.00
About the editors
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).
Mbizo Chirasha is a recipient of PEN Deutschland Exiled Writer Grant
(2017) Literary Arts Projects Curator, Writer in Residence, Blogs
Publisher, Arts for Human Rights/Peace Activism Catalyst, Social Media
Publicist and Internationally Anthologized Writer, 2017 African Partner
of the International Human Rights Arts Festival Exiled in Africa Program
in New York. 2017 Grantee of the EU- Horn of Africa Defend Human Rights
Defenders Protection Fund. Resident Curator of 100 Thousand Poets for
Peace-Zimbabwe, Originator of Zimbabwe We Want Poetry Movement. He has
published a collection of poetry, Good Morning President, and co-created
another one Whispering Woes of Ganges and Zembezi with Indian poet
Sweta Vikram.
Related books
Aporia: Lament of an Ambazonian Revolutionary
£17.00
Bearing Witness
£21.00