Osundare advocates the poetry of performance- performance instructions and musical effects are part of the poems - as at once creative and deeply political. The present collection testifies, wholly convincingly, to the poet's belief that language - the Word - defines personal and social history, expression and identity. 'In the Beginning was not the Word/In the Word was the Beginning', launches the volume and is its constant refrain. Language may sometimes be impotent or illusory - the middle section, 'Silence', reflects upon political censorship, the struggle of illiteracy, and the agonies and ambivalence of writing in the colonial language. But words which commit to 'truth and dream', and preferably, 'throw bridges/Across gulfs of indifferent ears, are the poet's only tool of communication for change.

The Word is an Egg: Poems (English and Yoruba Edition)

Literature & Fiction

Niyi Osundare

Poetry

Kraft Books

The Sick People: Drama

Yerima, Ahmed , 1957

<p>A further title in the Kraftgriots poetry series. Ebereonwu's poetry is the restless song of the city, the night and vampires. Animal imagery recurs and reverberates through the collection. In the title poem, the poet prefers to sing of vultures, dogs in chains and hiding rats, rather than 'sweet songs/or like the caged bird praises'. His song - poetry that engenders insomnia - is intended as the antithesis of the lullaby, but insomnia turns out to be a positive metaphor in the poet's incursions. He writes that a man's mentality may limit his wealth, and 'I [mankind] can transverse the earth on the back of a vampire/But peace with fellow man/Is in the heart of the unborn'. Ebereonwu is a poet of the younger generation in Nigeria, a scriptwriter and film producer.</p>

The Insomniac Dragon

Ebereonwu

In this witty but serious collection, the poet looks askance at injustices and pains of the present and recent past. In the title poem and others, he asks, 'how the hell/Chicken generals figured they could run a nation/From the DIY book of trash'. Other targets includes generals or executors, and the apolitical - pacifists and the apathetic, and the hypocrisy of the wealthy 'who bake the crumbs/to feed continents of beggars/that hide behind cliched histories'. Protest poetry at least offers some hope - a voice. The poet urges, 'rise poets, write/fight and bite/and die for price/set kites to flight/and fife for life/rise poets rise'. Omoniyi is a senior lecturer in English and Modern Language at the University of Surrey, in the UK. Many of these poems have previously appeared in journals in Africa, Asia, Europe and the US.

Farting Presidents and Other Poems

Omoniyi, Department of Media Culture and Language Tope

A recently published play from the prolific Nigerian poet, dramatist and literary critic, which testifies to the author's commitment to socially relevant art and artistic activism for which he is justifiably renowned. The play tells the story of Yankeland, an imaginary African country, where the country's natural and donated wealth is in the hands of a few corrupt rulers in cahoots with the American military. The powerful prey on the exploited masses, whilst upholding a facade of god-fearing morality. The play is written in the style of street theatre and producs a biting and dramatic satire on political authoritarianism and ignorance, which the author holds responsible for the backwardness of many African countries.The play does however show that such oppression is being challenged; and that the natural inclination of human beings is towards resistance and solidarity, for which Osundare's characters demonstrate great capacity.The courage, unambiguous criticism and optimism in the future are reflected in the performance history of the play itself, which was first staged at the Arts Theatre at the University of Ibadan in 1997, during the time of one of Nigeria's most repressive military dictatorships.

The State Visit

Osundare, Niyi

Dramas & Plays

The Parliament of Idiots. Tryst Of

Olafioye, Tayo

It Would Take Time. Conversations

Yemoja, according to Yoruba myth, is the goddess of the river. This re-working of the legend in dramatic form is a celebration of the river goddess and traditional Yoruba cosmology. The author tells the story in a language influenced by Yoruba symbolism and metaphor, inclusive of chants and speeches in the Yoruba language. He seeks to enhance knowledge and appreciation about the Yoruba cultural tradition, exploring the links between past and modern identities. The rendition emphasises the social preoccupations and human traits and emotions of the goddess according to her story: kindness, anger, jealousy, envy, trust and betrayal.

Yemoja (Kraftgriots) (English and Yoruba Edition)

Yerima, Ahmed

When Major General Jeff Guna got the note, his first feeling was that it  was an enemy's bait. A cryptic note: 'Meet me at 9pm...come with a flower,  if your love is not dead. Come with a gun if you need to kill me - JAA.'  Who is JAA, a man or a woman? Who or what is Major General's love that is  supposed to have died - or not: someone he loves, or someone who loves  him? Someone he has ceased to love or has tried to kill but who does not  die? This is the author's third novel in the Kraft Books fictionseries,  his earlier novels being A Poet is a Man (2001) and Moniseks Country  (2000).

Love Is Not Dead

Egbuson, Vincent

Literary

A Nigerian re-working of Shakespeare's Othello, this is an ambitious effort in the tradition of much contemporary Nigerian drama and spirit of cultural exchange to translate the timeless and classic work into the language, cultural reality and settingof the Igbo people. Yerima's play responds to the humanistic values, social and religious sensibilities of the original, reinventing them to speak for different people of a different age. From these perspectives, the play raises questions about the freedom of the individual in society, the nature of collective existence, and whether folly and greatness, jealousy, suspicion, tradition and love can co-exist.

Otaelo

Yerimah, Amed P

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Kraft Books publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Kraft Books