Constimocrazy

The lyrical pessimism of Nsah Mala's poetry presents a world characterized by violence, inhumanity and destruction, a world that is sadly too familiar. While many of the poems address contemporary issues in the poet's native Cameroon, much of the human-inflicted damage they describe is not limited to 'Cam-Kingdom'. Although much of the content is negative, many of the poems contain questions. These questions express the cynical voice of this politically committed poet, but behind them lies the distant possibility of a better version of the world in which values of love, peace and unity reign: 'Don't we know,' the poet asks, 'that violence is out of fashion?' - Professor Nicki Hitchcott, University of St Andrews, UK

Over 600 poets have been given voice in this series which was started five years ago, making it an important archive of new African poetry. Every year space is given to as many poets as can be accommodated; it takes at least 10 years to make a poet! The greatest positive aspect of this series is the poems received from writers who contribute each year: Archie Swanson, Chaun Ballard, Chengetai Mhondera, Troydon Wainwright, Tendai Rinos Mwanaka and Soberano Canhanga, and several who have poems in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 anthologies, and so many new ones. Many poets have gone on to publish their first collection and more, several have won prizes all over the world, some have become academics, some influential performers of their work and some have travelled all over the world presenting their work. This years Best New African Poets 2019 Anthology there is 197 poems from a more than one hundred poets (including collaborations) writing in English, Portuguese, French, and a whole host of African indigenous languages. Featured are poems which deal with love, relationships, politics, governance, spirituality, existence, identity and place. We invite you to this years anthology to engage with the most important new African poets writing from the continent and the diasporas and enjoy this African pot-pouri of art and life.

Writing Grandmothers, Africa Vs Latin America Vol 2 is a continuation of the cross-continental anthologies series, particularly focussing on African and Latin American writers. It continues on from where Experimental Writing, Africa Vs Latin America, Vol 1. The anthology has 6 nonfiction pieces, 10 fiction pieces, and 67 poems and translations of poems in the two dominant languages of the two continents, English and Spanish. There is work from poets and writers from Honduras, Mexico, USA, UK, Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Chile Puerto Rico, Spain, Nigeria, South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, and Ghana all collaborating on the theme of using the folktale or oral African story telling traditions and finding solutions to problems bedeviling the two continents, which were felt as a result of colonialism and or post colonialism.

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.

Dance of the Kangaroos (The Riot shall not be Televised) is a collection of 42 poems on the socio-political and economic realities of a people polarised by bitter colonial experiences. Through the use of metaphor and other literary devices, closely knitted by an apprehensive sense of a first witness, the poems highlight experiences of oppression, marginalization, social justice and human rights abuse. Dance of the Kangaroos takes the reader on a journey that unveils the realities and challenges of postcolonial African society. It is one where the superior class have taken up the colonial whip and induced their subordinates to re-stage a colonial parody under indigénat, a policy used by the French in colonial Africa. Mbutoh draws on words and expressions from his African background and his knowledge of his people’s colonial experiences to make each poem unique.

Best “New” African Poets 2018 Anthology follows volumes in 2017, 2016 and 2015. In this fourth volume of these continent-wide anthologies of African poetry we have work from 154 African poets from over 30 African countries and the African Diasporas. There are poems in English, French, Portuguese, Sepedi, Shona, Yoruba, and Asante Twi languages. In 2018 there was a notable increase in the number of entries with memorable novelties regarding poetic experimentation: some of the poets have daringly sliced up words playing around with the spatial and structural patterns of their texts on paper. This may be described as both textual and visual poetry. Reading the poems becomes a journey with many paths, where the reader walks according to poetic rhythms and the hesitating breaks of action verbs and enjambments.

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.

Mbesa village witnesses a peculiar birth; that of a boy with a special skin colour. He becomes a curiosity for everyone. Nevertheless, his difference will not be a handicap for him. On the contrary! Andolo is a very talented man and knows how to prove it. Suitable for primary-aged children.