Oral Poetry from Africa
Fatoumata Diawara was born in the Ivory Coast to Malian parents, but grew up in Bamako in Mali. Kokòrò (“Our Heritage” or “Our Traditions”) is a song standing in defence of the cultural heritage of Mali.
Let’s not turn our backs to our traditions
Let’s embrace them, be proud of them…
A new praise-poem by Amore David Olamide dedicated to the city of Ìbàdàn, the capital of Ọyọ State in Nigeria. Founded in the 19th century as a warriors camp, Ìbàdàn has grown into one of Africa’s most populous cities.
According to local historians, Ìbàdàn was founded by a military commander from Ilé Ifè called Lagelu in 1829. Lagelu chose the forest site to be a camp for warriors as its elevated hills made it easy to defend. The city-state became a wealthy trading centre ruled by a warrior class rather than the traditional kingship institutions that dominated other Yoruba cities. Ìbàdàn’s military associations led to the city being nicknamed idi Ibon (“butt of a gun”).
Ìbàdàn, the home of heroes
Who could not be opposed…
A new poem by Amore David Olamide, part lamentation, part evocation of the spirit of an ancestor to come forth from the grave.
Igbo biribiri, Okunkun biribiri
The commiserator of fallen trees…
Axmed Shiikh Jaamac (1942–2014) was a Somali academician, writer, poet and politician. He taught at the Ministry of Education of the former Republic of Somalia, before moving to Yemen to publish a weekly column for the journal Al-Miithaaq. Axmed eventually returned to Somalia to work as director of the Puntland Ministry of Information, Telecommunications, Culture and Heritage in Garowe.
The following poem was translated from Somali into English by Maxamed Xasan ‘Alto’ and Sarah Maguire.
You belong in the grave like all your kin from the Djinn
False hope, you’re used by the Devil to hide all his schemes…
I am grateful to the South African poet, Vusi Mchunu, for the following elegy dedicated to the Afro-German poet, educator and activist May Ayim.
It is a long fall from the concrete heights of Kreuzberg
It is a long way to the hill of Alt St. Matthaeus Cemetery…
