Jack Mapanje returns to his concern for ordinary people in Africa and in the world at large. These new poems are boldly lyrical narratives, cunningly crafted in mesmerising spirals. His voice is still ironically cheerful, his tone impotently angry but confidently measured with wit and humour, however bleak. He fears the saying 'once a prisoner always a prisoner', and questions why prisons refuse to go away.
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Because he was a radical poet, Jack Mapanje was imprisoned without trial or charge by the dictator Hastings Banda of Malawi for nearly four years. The themes of his poetry range from the search for a sense of dignity and integrity under a repressive regime, incarceration, release from prison, exile and return to Africa, and reconciliation with torturers, to the writer in Africa and the continuing African liberation struggle in a hostile world. While often deadly serious, Mapanje's poems are lifted by the generosity of spirit and irrepressible humour which helped sustain him through his prison ordeal.
Because he was a radical poet, Jack Mapanje was imprisoned without trial or charge by the dictator Hastings Banda of Malawi for nearly four years. Skipping without Ropes is his third and most varied collection, with poems on his incarceration and release from prison, his exile and return to Africa, reconciliation with torturers, the role of the African writer, and the continuing liberation struggle in other countries. While often deadly serious, Mapanje's poems are given a skip and a lift by the generosity of spirit and irrepressible humour which helped sustainhim through his prison ordeal.
Jack Mapanje was imprisoned without trial or charge by Malawi's dictator Hastings Banda for nearly four years, chronicling his prison experiences with dogged wit in his previous books. In Greetings from Grandpa - his sixth collection - Mapanje is still effervescent, with his wry humour defiantly intact. Some treacherous African tyrants may have been deposed or died horrific deaths, leaving their snoops in exile washing cars to survive - but these are mere metaphors of another life. The narratives in Greetings from Grandpa are mellow and cheerful testimonies of the sojourn of the human spirit as it survives freedom under implausible circumstances, whether at home or in exile. Grandchildren are born, calming the nerves of exile; dear friends back home die of AIDS, unsettling gentle memories; China and Asia arrive in Africa and nobody raises a finger; greedy bureaucrats syphon billions from accountant general's coffers; but Africa marches on regardless, stubbornly celebrating life, sometimes in traditional symbols; sometimes by inventing delightful beef festivals.The collection also includes Mapanje's version of Kalikalanje, a well-known legend among the Yao speaking African peoples of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, whose trickster hero comes into the world endowed with knowledge of past, present, future times and events. Kalikalanje is a lover of life, freedom, peace, truth, justice, and above all, fun. His enemies try to kill him only to bring destruction on themselves instead. This age-old tale has universal appeal - and is popular with children - but its symbolic, social-cultural-political nuance makes it especially relevant in today's world of persistent liars and impostors. Jack Mapanje's previous collection, Beasts of Nalunga, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2007. His earlier work - including the prison poems - is available in The Last of the Sweet Bananas: New & Selected Poems (2004).
In the 75th anniversary of CARA (Council for Assisting Refugee Academics), this book explores the experiences and achievements of refugee academics and their rescuers to recount Britain's past relationship with overseas victims of persecution, and as vital questions about our present-day attitudes towards immigration and asylum.
Rev. ed. of: The Princeton encyclopedia of poetry and poetics / Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan, co-editors; Frank J. Warnke, O.B. Hardison, Jr., and Earl Miner, associate editors. 1993.
This new eighth edition of Bradt's Malawi remains the only standalone practical guidebook to this magical East African destination, long known as the 'warm heart of Africa' (and the first country outside Denmark to have a Carlsberg brewery). Malawi is a small country with a big lake - accounting for around a third of its territory - and a big welcome. Written by Philip Briggs, arguably the world's most experienced guidebook author, this new edition benefits from a thorough country-wide update of all the practical information, with the addition of significant new game park accommodation. Dedicated chapters on background information, health and flora and fauna are complemented by a 19-chapter breakdown of the country and 37 maps, making this an ideal companion for backpackers, over-landers, wildlife spotters, birdwatchers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Included in the guide are the many outstanding adventure opportunities: kayaking on the vast lake amongst dug-out canoes; hikes from tea estates up to the heights Mount Mulanje; and watching the 'big five' animals in wonderful natural surroundings. There's also a resurgent music scene, intriguing monuments built by former colonisers and compelling village culture to discover. With the reintroduction of species including lions - and the recent translocation of large numbers of elephants to Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve - Malawi is a wildlife destination to savour. From luxury camps to local guesthouses, from rhino trekking to cycle tours and from crafts to cultural tourism, Bradt's Malawi covers every aspect of your trip.
Reading Contemporary African Literature brings together scholarship on, critical debates about, and examples of reading African literature in all genres – poetry, fiction, and drama including popular culture. The anthology offers studies of African literature from interdisciplinary perspectives that employ sociological, historical, and ethnographic besides literary analysis of the literatures. It has assembled critical and researched essays on a range of topics, theoretical and empirical, by renowned critics and theorists of African literature that evaluate and provide examples of reading African literature that should be of interest to academics, researchers, and students of African literature, culture, and history amongst other subjects. Some of the essays examine authors that have received little or no attention to date in books on recent African literature. These essays provide new insights and scholarship that should broaden and deepen our understanding and appreciation of African literature.
