Oral Poetry from Africa
This month (April 2021) will mark the 49th anniversary of the death of Kwame Nkrumah, the revolutionary leader of Ghanaian independence and visionary advocate of the Pan-African movement. As President, Nkrumah oversaw Ghana’s rapid industrial development and invested in national educational facilities. He played a key role in the development of the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union).
They blinded him
For his vision…
The annual Ọ̀ṣun-Òṣogbo Festival takes place in the capital city of Osun State in Nigeria and lasts fourteen days. The festival celebrates the discovery of the large river in Òṣogbo by Prince Ọlároóyè in the 18th century. Oba Ọlároóyè was a prince of the city-state Iléṣà, about 20 kilometers from Òṣogbo, who had led an exploratory expedition due to water-shortages in Iléṣà. Yorùbá mythology describes the expedition encountering a powerful goddess, Ọ̀ṣun, dwelling within the river who granted permission to these pioneers to settle near the river.
Aládékojú, I am calling on you
Hail My Beloved Mother Aládékojú…
This is a funeral dirge from Ghana that was performed to honour Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, the 15th King of the Asante Kingdom who died in February 1999. The artists are Manhyia Tete Nwomkoro Kuo (the “Traditional Nnwonkoro Group from Manhiya”).
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…
The Nigerian politician, poet and journalist Dennis Chukude Osadebay translated this Ibo poem for the journal African Affairs in 1949. The lighthearted tale of an orphan boy is described by D.C. Osadebay as being several centuries old.
O Lamb give me my salt,
Salt the market folks gave me…
A new poem by Ghanaian poet Adjei Agyei-Baah, about the discrimination faced by albinos in Africa and other parts of the world.
Yours is a hard tale to tell
one already known in every household…
