Cameroon Anthology Of Poetry

In this carefully thought-through anthology, Bole Butake brings Cameroonian poets of different generations, gender, regions, backgrounds and interests into conversation not only among themselves but more especially with poets from other parts of Africa and the world. This is a testament on the universality of poetry. It is an invitation for those in tune with poetry to reaffirm its magic and to spread the warmth of its embrace in celebration of a common and boundless humanity.

Cameroon is no longer a peace-haven in Central Africa. This bilingual poetry anthology is a literary response to the avoidable but worsening and under-reported fratricidal war in Anglophone Cameroon. Written in English and French, the anthology brings together thirty-three poets from thirteen countries in Africa and beyond. The poets are concerned with the blood baths, burnings and other crimes committed in Anglophone Cameroon in the name of unity or division. Their poems paint raw images of the cruel killings of old people, pregnant women and children like those of #NgarbuhMassacre. They excavate the hidden mass graves and unveil the countless villages reduced to ashes and rubble. They recall the burning of animals and food and the brutal killing of nurses, patients and teachers. Their stanzas meander along with refugees in forests into Nigeria, into the jungles of Mexico en route to the US, and elsewhere. It is poetry speaking for human life and dignity, for peace and education, for inclusive dialogue, for reconciliation. It is poetry which should ruffle the consciences of those doing business in war, those pulling strings behind curtains, those who see oil before humans, those who trigger guns at their own brothers, sisters and parents, those who give orders to killin short, those who enjoy warfare as they profit from the spoils of war. This anthology seeks to raise global awareness on this forgotten war as a way of contributing to justice, healing, and peace in Cameroon.

Crossroads of Dreams is a steamy potpourri of poetry by Franklin Agogho, Jude A. Fonchenalla and M.D. Mbutoh which redefine representations of African youth through the prisms of politics, emigration and the enduring threat of underdevelopment. How would one explain the persistence of poverty and oppression in Africa amidst the superabundance of natural and human resources? In their search for answers, the poets not only chastise but also to point to a verdant and promising future – free of corruption, greed, violence and neo-colonialism. Other themes covered in the anthology include gender, identity and family ties. Animated by three distinctive styles, the eighty-eight poems in this volume will surely enrage, provoke laughter, sorrow, disgust but also hope, courage and visions of a promising Africa in all its splendour and tribulations.

In this carefully thought-through anthology, Bole Butake brings Cameroonian poets of different generations, gender, regions, backgrounds and interests into conversation not only among themselves but more especially with poets from other parts of Africa and the world. This is a testament on the universality of poetry. It is an invitation for those in tune with poetry to reaffirm its magic and to spread the warmth of its embrace in celebration of a common and boundless humanity.

Bearing Witness: Poems from a Land in Turmoil is a poetic response to the devastating Anglophone Crisis/Ambazonian Conflict in Cameroon that has killed thousands of children, women and men, displaced over half a million people and left hundreds of communities in ruins. The poems in this volume capture an all-encompassing landscape marked by alienation, despair, displacement, loss, anger, trauma, as well as courage, hope, heroism, justice and resilience. These poems also engender psychic healing which has the potential of turning victims into survivors. With over 100 poems by 73 poets—seasoned and emerging, old and young, men and women—this collection is not only a guidepost of collective memory, but also the definitive literary work of this period in Cameroon’s checkered history.

The emerging voices in the anthology are ... strong assertive voices with fervent statements about life; they are distinctive voices that seek to amend the fragmentary experiences of the past and present and to provide another vision for the future; finally, they are prophetic voices that carry with them symptoms of more meaningful existence as well as innovative techniques that stimulate the fading pulse of poetry.

Inside the Beyonds is a scintillating poetry anthology that has brought together ten literary minds from Cameroon. Through their poetry, these ten stewards of the pen have sought to translate the being, the meaning and the feeling of young creatives from the Cameroonian minority English-speaking population.

Cam Tok & Other Poems from the Cradle is the poet’s attempt at capturing in print the orality characteristic of Cameroonian discourse and speech mannerisms of the proverbial man in the street. Pidgin English, also called broken English, is a lingua franca spoken throughout the national territory of Cameroon. Of the over 200 languages spoken in this African country, only Pidgin enjoys the rare privilege of being spoken by people from all social strata and walks of life, regardless of educational standing. Indeed, Pidgin has acquired the status of an independent language in Cameroon.It is no longer restricted to small talk, business and music; it is now the language of Cameroonian literature. Francis Njamnjoh, Patrice Nganang, Kangsen Wakai, Mercédès Fouda, and Gabriel Fonkou to name but a few, have adopted Cam Tok as a medium of expression in their literary works. They continually imprint their creative writing with Pidgin English and Camfranglais words and expressions. These writers constantly resort to pidginization and code-switching as a mode of literary indigenization and cultural appropriation.This anthology of poems is inspired by the poet’s desire to salvage a language that is threatened with asphyxiation by self-styled linguistic purists in Cameroon who have subjected this lingua franca to denigration on account of its being non-standardized. Pidgin English translates the worldview of Cameroonians; it conveys their imagination, sensibilities and lived experiences. Although Pidgin has, hitherto, been regarded as a language used mostly by the not so educated people in Cameroon and beyond, this hybrid language has now gained currency among the elite. Learned Cameroonians often resort to Pidgin English for the purpose of phatic communion in informal circles.