Africa! My Africa!
Africa! My Africa! is an anthology of some 190 poems, compilation of which began in 1997. As the collection grew, similarity in the ‘types of fabric’ that made up the whole became apparent:
Love. Song. Loss. Exile. Journeys. War's folly. Figures in urban and rural landscapes. Wilderness. Simple pictures of life. Shades of the human condition. Pathos. Poignancy. The joy in small things. Light. The colours of Africa.
The completed work seems to be a jewelled quilt, one that glows in the dark, rippling in a dune-movement of lyricism.
Dedication:
Africa! My Africa! is dedicated to the South African poets Patrick Cullinan (1933-2011) and Stephen Watson (1954-2011) who died within four days of each other, leaving behind an extraordinary literary legacy.
Reviews:
“This is an evocative anthology of treasures put together with passion and love. Its alphabet of poets provides a gateway to multiple perspectives of Africa and a landscape of human emotions.”
“Reading this collection I feel that I'm there, in Africa.”
“Can anything capture the opposites, the contradictions, the calamitous urgency and un-peace of being born in Africa like a poem can? This collection, so lovingly and thoughtfully put together, is all aching poignancy, with each poem resonating along the scale of the whole.”
“I loved this sensuous, beautifully produced book. Everyone is going to love it.”
“This is a hugely exciting, wide collection. I would beg you to have a copy at home, lying around, available to be picked up and dipped into and, above all, shared.”
“These are arguably the most important anthologies of poetry to ever come out of South Africa.” Read the review here.
Key Review Words:
Evocative. Exciting. Sensuous