Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry
Encyclopedia
The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry (in an earlier 1963 edition Modern Poetry from Africa), is a 1984 poetry anthology edited by Gerald Moore
and Ulli Beier
. It consists mainly of poems written in English
and English translations of French
or Portuguese
poetry; poems written in African languages
were included only in the authors' translations. The poems are arranged by the country of the poet,then by their date of birth. The following sections list the poets included in the collection.
Angola
Congo Republic
Ghana
Mozambique
Nigeria
South Africa
Zaire
Gerald Moore (scholar)
Gerald Moore is an independent scholar living in Udine, Italy. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He has taught at many universities, including Sussex, Hong Kong, Makerere, Ife, Port Harcourt, Jos and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His last teaching post was at Trieste. He is...
and Ulli Beier
Ulli Beier
Horst Ulrich Beier was a German editor, writer and scholar, who had a pioneering role in developing literature, drama and poetry in Nigeria, as well as literature, drama and poetry in Papua New Guinea...
. It consists mainly of poems written in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and English translations of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
or Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
poetry; poems written in African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
were included only in the authors' translations. The poems are arranged by the country of the poet,then by their date of birth. The following sections list the poets included in the collection.
AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
- Agostinho NetoAgostinho NetoAntónio Agostinho Neto served as the first President of Angola , leading the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the war for independence and the civil war...
- António JacintoAntónio JacintoAntónio Jacinto, full name António Jacinto do Amaral Martins, born in Luanda, Angola 28 September 1924, died 23 June 1991 in Lisbon, Portugal, was an Angolan poet.-Biography:...
- Costa Andrade
- Ngudia Wendel
- Jofre Rocha
- Ruy Duarte de Carvalho
Congo RepublicRepublic of the CongoThe Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
- Tchicaya U Tam’si
- Jean-Baptiste Tati LoutardJean-Baptiste Tati LoutardJean-Baptiste Tati Loutard was a Congolese politician and poet. Having previously served as Minister of Higher Education and Minister of Arts and Culture, he was Minister of Hydrocarbons in the government of Congo-Brazzaville from 1997 to 2009; he was also the founder and President of the Action...
- Emmanuel DongalaEmmanuel DongalaEmmanuel Boundzéki Dongala is a Congolese chemist and novelist. He is currently Richard B. Fisher Chair in Natural Sciences at Bard College at Simon's Rock....
GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
- Ellis Ayitey Komey
- Kwesi BrewKwesi Brew-Life:Born to a Fante family, Brew was brought up by a British guardian after his parents died. He was one of the first graduates from the University College of the Gold Coast in 1951. He was published in Okyeame, and four of his poems were included in the 1958 anthology Voices of Ghana...
- Kofi AwoonorKofi AwoonorKofi Awoonor is a Ghanaian poet and author, whose work combines the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa during decolonization....
- Atukwei Okai
- Kofi AnyidohoKofi AnyidohoKofi Anyidoho is a Ghanaian poet and academic who comes from a family tradition of Ewe poets and oral artists. He was educated in Ghana and the U.S., gaining his Ph.D. at the University of Texas...
MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
- José CraveirinhaJosé CraveirinhaJosé Craveirinha , was born in Maputo, Mozambique and is today considered the greatest poet of that country....
- Noémia de SousaNoémia de SousaCarolina Noémia Abranches de Sousa Soares was a poet from Mozambique who wrote in the Portuguese language. She is also known as Vera Micaia. She is of mixed Portuguese and Bantu descent....
- Valente Malangatana
- Jorge Rebelo
NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
- Gabriel OkaraGabriel OkaraGabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara is a Nigerian poet and novelist who was born in Bomoundi in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. In 1979, he was awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize.-Writing:His most famous poem is "Piano and Drums"...
- Christopher OkigboChristopher OkigboChristopher Ifekandu Okigbo was a Nigerian poet, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as the outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet and one of the major modernist writers of the twentieth century.-Early life:Okigbo was born on August...
- Wole SoyinkaWole SoyinkaAkinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
- John Pepper ClarkJohn Pepper ClarkJohn Pepper Clark-Bekederemo is a Nigerian poet and playwright who publishes under the name J.P. Clark.-Life:Born to Ijaw parents, Clark received his early education at the Native Administration School and the prestigious Government College in Ughelli, and his BA degree in English at the...
- Frank Aig-Imoukhuede
- Okogbuli Wonodi
- Michael EcheruoMichael EcheruoMichael Joseph Chukwudalu Echeruo is a Nigerian academic, professor and literary critic from Okigwe, Imo State. He was educated at the University College, Ibadan from 1955 to 1960 and was contemporaries with a few notable writers and poets from the college, such as Christopher Okigbo...
- Pol N Ndu
- Onwuchekwa JemieOnwuchekwa JemieOnwuchekwa Jemie is a Nigerian scholar, poet, journalist, and professor. He was born in Abia State, Nigeria and was educated at the Hope Waddell Training Institution at Calabar...
- Aig Higo
- Molara Ogundipe-LeslieMolara OgundipeOmolara Ogundipe-Leslie is a Nigerian poet, critic, editor, feminist and activist. Considered one of the foremost writers on African feminism, gender studies and literary theory, she is a social critic who has come to be recognized as a viable authority on African women among black feminists and...
- Niyi OsundareNiyi OsundareNiyi Osundare is a prolific poet, dramatist and literary critic. He gained degrees at the University of Ibadan , the University of Leeds and York University, Canada...
- Odia Ofeimun
- Funso AiyejinaFunso AiyejinaFunso Aiyejina is a Nigerian poet, short story writer, playwright, and Dean of Humanities and Education, at the University of the West Indies....
South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
- Dennis BrutusDennis BrutusDennis Vincent Brutus was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have apartheid South Africa banned from the Olympic Games.-Life and work:...
- Mazisi KuneneMazisi KuneneMazisi Kunene was a South African poet best known for his poem Emperor Shaka the Great. While in exile from South Africa's apartheid regime, Kunene was an active supporter and organizer of the anti-apartheid movement in Europe and Africa...
- Sipho SepamlaSipho SepamlaSydney Sipho Sepamla was a contemporary South African poet and novelist.Born in a township near Krugersdorp, Sipho Sepamla lived most of his life in Soweto. He studied teaching at Pretoria Normal College and published his first volume of poetry, Hurry Up to It!, in 1975...
- Keorapetse KgositsileKeorapetse KgositsileKeorapetse William Kgositsile is a South African poet and political activist, and was an influential member of the African National Congress in the 1960s and 1970s. He lived in exile in the United States from 1962 until 1975, the peak of his literary career...
- Oswald Mbuyiseni MtshaliOswald Mbuyiseni MtshaliOswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali is a South African poet. He has written in both Zulu and English. He studied at Columbia University.-First Book:...
- Arthur NortjeArthur NortjeArthur Nortje was a South African poet.He was born in Oudtshoorn, and went to school in Port Elizabeth, being taught by the acclaimed writer Dennis Brutus...
- Mongane Wally SeroteMongane Wally SeroteMongane Wally Serote is a South African poet and writer. He was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg and went to school in Alexandra, Lesotho and Soweto. He first became involved in Black Consciousness when he was finishing high school in Soweto...
ZaireZaireThe Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
- Antoine-Rober Bolamba
- Mukala Kadima-Nzuji