Full Description
Kofi Awoonor, one of Ghana's most accomplished poets, had for almost half a century committed himself to teaching, political engagement, and the literary arts. The one constant that guided and shaped his many occupations and roles in life was poetry. The Promise of Hope is a beautifully edited collection of some of Awoonor's most arresting work spanning almost fifty years.
Selected and edited by Awoonor's friend and colleague Kofi Anyidoho, himself a prominent poet and academic in Ghana, The Promise of Hope contains much of Awoonor's most recent unpublished poetry, along with many of his anthologized and classic poems. This engaging volume serves as a fitting contribution to the inaugural cohort of books in the African Poetry Book Series.
Contents
Foreword by Kwame DawesAcknowledgmentsIn Retrospect: An Introduction by Kofi AnyidohoFrom Herding the Lost Lamb (2013)The Light Is OnThe New Boy on the BlockAcross a New DawnSongs of AbuseTo Feed Our PeopleTo the Ancient PoetsCounting the YearsOnce MoreOn the Gallows OnceTruthWhat Brought Me Here?What More Can I Give?Those Gone AheadUp in the GardenXiansi, Pou Tou DallaI'll Raise a New SongRemembranceFrom Latin American & Caribbean Notebook (1992)In MemoriamOf Home and Sea I Already SangOf Home Once MoreRio de Janeiro: Fearful and Lovely CityDistant Home CountryAgra: January 21, 1989Cuban ChaptersThe Hero's BloodOf Faith and FortitudeThe Orient ExpressBetrayersHavana, Cuba: The Free Territory of the AmericasA CaressFor Tenu and Afetsi: A HymnOf NiggerhoodA Death ForetoldThe Prophecy from IranIn Memoriam: Return to KingstonLover's SongThe Red Bright Book of HistoryAt a Time Like ThisBack with SandinoPrayerThe Ancient TwineSeatime, AnotherReadings and MusingsLight Hours in VerseTime RevisitedA Thin Echo of Time's Voice"As Long As There Are Tears and Suffering, So Long Our Work Will Not Be Over," Jawaharlal Nehru"The Girl that Died In HavanaOur Pride AloneDream—AgainNew RainBirds on an Autumn WireShamla Hills: BhopalShamla Hills: Sanchi TemplesChildhoodPartingFrom Until the Morning After (1987)Life's TearsSo the World ChangesLife's WindsGrains and TearsHad Death not Had Me in TearsAct of FaithI RejoiceThe PictureFor EzekiFrom The House by the Sea (1978)Part One: Before the JourneyPoems, Fall '73The Land EnduresGoing SomehowFor Pablo NerudaRequiem for PabloAfter the Exile and the FeastsSome Talk of Lunar VirginsPoemPoetryDeparture and ProspectWhen Going into JailAfricaPoemOf AbsencePoemPoemSequencesFor Henoga Vinoko AkpaluAn American PoemAnother Lover's SongSelf-PortraitPart Two: Homecoming . . . Poems from PrisonHomecomingThe Second Circle: Beginning Midnight, 5 January 1976On Being Told of TortureThe First CircleDream of HomeRevolutionTo Sika on Her 11th BirthdayRevolution: A Chat with Ho Chi Minh's GhostFound PoemAnother Found PoemThe PlacePoemUsLovePersonal NoteSea Time, Meaning a PledgeThe Will to DieA Little WordThe Wayfarer Comes HomesFrom Ride Me, Memory (1973)AmericaHarlem on a Winter NightLong Island SketchesTo My Uncle Jonathan: A Song of AbuseTo Felicity, a Girl I Met in L.A.Hymns of Praise, Celebration, and PrayerEtchings from My MindMy Father's PrayerMy Uncle the Diviner—ChieftainTo SikaTo Those Gone AheadFrom Night of My Blood (1971)I Heard a Bird CryNight of My BloodStop The Death-CryA DirgeMore MessagesAt the GatesThe DanceDo Not Handle ItAll Men My BrothersLament of the Silent SistersHymn To My Dumb EarthThey Do Not Sound for MeFrom Rediscovery and other Poems (1964)My God of Songs Was IllThe Sea Eats the Land at HomeThe CathedralWhat Song Shall We SingWe Have Found a New LandThe Anvil and the HammerRediscoveryThe Weaver BirdThe PurificationThe Gone LocustsSongs of SorrowFrom This Earth, My Brother: An Allegorical Tale of Africa (1971)The Making of the New Nation (Chapter 2a)From Comes the Voyager at Last: A Tale of Return to Africa (1992)Festival of OnenessAn Epilogue by Kofi AwoonorSource Acknowledgments
