Offers a selection of African poetry arranged by country

Book of African-inspired Poetry Released Stephen Abara brings refined works of word art to the attention of the world, sharing the culture and challenges of Africa with the rest of humankind ONTARIO, Canada-- In 2008, Stephen Abara, at that time the president of the Glendon African Network, set out to organize a poetry competition within their university to further espouse understanding and support for the African people, their culture, and the challenges that face them. This book, ANTHOLOGY OF AFRICAN POETRY, is an outgrowth of that poetry competition, bringing the beauty, emotions, and sentiments of these Africa-inspired poets to a broader audience. In this charming, informative and highly educative book-Anthology of African Poetry-written in English and French by the young intellects at Glendon College, York University, readers will come to realize that one cannot run away from his or her problems. The past can always be found in the present, and has proven to be essential to oral tradition and literature. The poems in this book are both traditional, free verse and modern. They aim to provide readers of African descent and non-Africans with an enhanced understanding of African lifestyle and identity. Opening this book to any page will allow readers to discover a new poem to treasure or delight in all the poems, one at a time, to feel the full measure of Africa's modern and contemporary poetry s vibrancy and abundance and depiction of its people home and abroad through arts and cultures.

This anthology presents the voices of a new generation of African poets, drawn from across the continent and representing a wide range of themes, styles and ideologies. These contemporary voices have been shaped in the realities of postcolonial Africa from the mid-1970s to the end of the 1990s.

A revised and enlarged edition, this anthology incorporates a wide variety of poetry from the different regions of Africa. More examples of traditional poetry are now included, while cultural developments are reflected in the contemporary material.

From the ancient Egyptian inventors of the love lyric to contemporary poets, Bending the Bow: An Anthology of African Love Poetry gathers together both written and sung love poetry from Africa. This anthology is a work of literary archaeology that lays bare a genre of African poetry that has been overshadowed by political poetry. Frank Chipasula has assembled a historically and geographically comprehensive wealth of African love poetry that spans more than three thousand years. By collecting a continent’s celebrations and explorations of the nature of love, he expands African literature into the sublime territory of the heart. Bending the Bow traces the development of African love poetry from antiquity to modernity while establishing a cross-millennial dialogue. The anonymously written love poems fromPharaonic Egypt that open the anthology both predate Biblical love poetry and reveal the longevity of written love poetry in Africa. The middle section is devoted to sung love poetry from all regions of the continent. These great works serve as the foundation for modern poetry and testify to love poetry’s omnipresence in Africa. The final section, showcasing forty-eight modern African poets, celebrates the genre’s continuing vitality. Among those represented are Muyaka bin Hajji and Shaaban Robert,two major Swahili poets; Gabriel Okara, the innovative though underrated Nigerian poet; Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first president of Senegal and a founder of the Negritude Movement in francophone African literature; Rashidah Ismaili from Benin; Flavien Ranaivo from Madagascar; and Gabeba Baderoon from South Africa. Ranging from the subtly suggestive to the openly erotic, this collection highlights love’s endurance in a world too often riven by contention. Bending the Bow bears testimony to poetry’s role as conciliator while opening up a new area of study for scholars and students.

"Global anthology of twentieth-century poetry"--Back cover.