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A review by soapy
The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry by Gerald Moore
4.0
i really enjoyed this collection! I will say personal preference-wise I didn’t find it as enjoyable as I would’ve liked but the content itself is wonderful and still beneficial to read. the other gripe I’d have is that it doesn’t seem all that modern anymore at least, and most authors seemed to have been born in the 40’s.
otherwise, it was fantastic. Some real gems, and even the ones that didn’t resonate personally had something to say.
Femi Fatoba, Lamuel Jackson, Sipho Sepamla’s poem about peace-loving “what I don’t know is what peace will still be lovable” DAMN. Mukula Kadima-Nzuji’s “the rough backwash of my being” line, Edouard Maunick, “blueing shoulders of the horizon”; Gavriel Okara’s “Moon in the Bucket”, Femi Fatoba’s “In America”
Tchicaya U Tam’si: “I myself will be the stage for my salvation!”; “Tell me in what Egypt my people’s feet lie chained”
Stella Chipasula “I’m My Own Mother, Now”; Emile Ologoudou’s “Vespers” (fav fav fav); Mbella Sonne Dipoko’s “Our Life” & Parisian Diary, and Ayi Kwei Armah’s ravishing “Seed Time”: “all history is foreplay” - Jofre Rocha’s “Poem of Return” & “do not bring me flowers / bring me rather all the dews”
Some lovely finds in here I’ll treasure for a long time!
otherwise, it was fantastic. Some real gems, and even the ones that didn’t resonate personally had something to say.
Femi Fatoba, Lamuel Jackson, Sipho Sepamla’s poem about peace-loving “what I don’t know is what peace will still be lovable” DAMN. Mukula Kadima-Nzuji’s “the rough backwash of my being” line, Edouard Maunick, “blueing shoulders of the horizon”; Gavriel Okara’s “Moon in the Bucket”, Femi Fatoba’s “In America”
Tchicaya U Tam’si: “I myself will be the stage for my salvation!”; “Tell me in what Egypt my people’s feet lie chained”
Stella Chipasula “I’m My Own Mother, Now”; Emile Ologoudou’s “Vespers” (fav fav fav); Mbella Sonne Dipoko’s “Our Life” & Parisian Diary, and Ayi Kwei Armah’s ravishing “Seed Time”: “all history is foreplay” - Jofre Rocha’s “Poem of Return” & “do not bring me flowers / bring me rather all the dews”
Some lovely finds in here I’ll treasure for a long time!