Naturally Africa!
An anthology of earth poems.
Naturally Africa! was co-curated with Dan Wylie. It brings together a selection of poems to reveal the beauty, grandeur and exploitation of wild and urban landscapes. Poems are ‘touched’ by Africa, in the broadest sense. They focus on the environment while still engaging with emotions of love, loss and longing
These poems will make your heart both sing and sigh.
Dedication:
Naturally Africa! is dedicated by Patricia Schonstein to ‘My mother, Giannina Clelia Baccan, who, when I was a child, showed me the Milky Way—from the darkness of the Zambezi basin—alerting me to the infinitesimal number of stars, while pointing out that the pieces of mica scattered and glittering under moonlight at our feet, were also numberless and impossible to count;
And by Dan Wylie to ‘My parents, who taught me to see, attend, create, risk, persist and revere.’
Reviews:
“Of all that there is to celebrate in hand-picked words, nothing could matter more than the state of nature – most especially on this continent where the power of the past and fragility of the future converge in a precarious present. Echoing creation itself, this biodiverse anthology covers the infinite African landscape – from epic wilderness to minute miracle, from startled bees to uncurled moons, from the ancient mandibles of termites to the rainless, shadeless waste of the future. Across the ages poets have been trusted to notice, to care and offer light when things seem a little dark. Here the light from over a hundred poets reflects the hope and beauty that is at the heart of Africa, naturally.”
“Naturally Africa! is a magnificent collection and a must-read for anyone who enjoys Africa’s wilderness.”
“The wild places of Africa are my home. Soaking up these bold, insightful and caring poems is an inspiring way to fire up hope for a natural landscape under threat from so many sides.”
“Each of the Africa! anthologies has a wide range of voices – most living, many deceased, some found, some anonymous – that make for an exceptional mix of poems, a surprising but harmonious patchwork of thoughts about, and sentiments from, Africa.”