First composed in 1956 in Acoli, a Ugandan language, Okot p’Bitek converted this book-length poem into English, and it was published a decade later. The author’s note informs readers that the English-language version “clipped a bit of the eagle’s wings… Read More ›
First published in The Graveyard Also Has Teeth, “On Being a Poet in Sierra Leone” is an example of Syl Cheney-Coker’s self-referential—one might almost say egocentric—style. This 34-line free-verse poem—which contains minimal punctuation (only two exclamation points and six commas)—is… Read More ›
This is one of the earliest poems of John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo and has been widely anthologized. One of the most successful of his poems, it was first published in Poems (1962) and reprinted in A Reed in the Tide (1965)…. Read More ›