Full Description
Poetry is one of the major forms of expression in both Africa and the Arab World, and this anthology gives a glimpse of the most representative voices of the French-speaking countries of these two regions. The past half-century has confirmed their work as poetry of great literary quality, full of a unique vitality and presence.
The Traveller's Tree presents poems from Algeria (Mohammed Dib, Habib Tengour); Cameroon (Paul Dakeyo); Chad (Nimrod); Congo Brazzaville (Alain Mabanckou, Tchicaya U Tam Si); Democratic Republic of Congo (Kama Kamanda); Djibouti (A. Waberi); Ivory Coast (Tanella Boni); Lebanon (Venus Khoury-Ghata); Mauritius (Edouard Maunick, Khal Torabully); Morocco (Abdellatif Laâbi); Senegal (Babacar Sall, Lamine Sall) and Tunisia (Tahar Bekri, Chems Nadir, A Said).
Patrick Williamson is an English poet, born in Madrid in 1960. His most recent poetry collection is Three Rivers / Trois Rivières (Harmattan, 2010). He has translated, among others, selected works by Tunisian poet Tahar Bekri and Québécois poet Gilles Cyr. He now lives near Paris.
Contents
Preface / 9 Introduction / 11 (ALGERIA) MOHAMMED DIB: Migrant / 21, The beast / 21, More than ever alive / 23, Thing / 23, River / 25 (ALGERIA) HABIB TENGOUR: Four times azure and five / 29, The water's edge / 29, The poem / 31 (CAMEROON) PAUL DAKEYO: Soweto, suns shot down (extracts) / 37, The song of silence (extracts) / 41 (CHAD) NIMROD: The cry of the bird / 55, Tibesti (extracts) / 55, Yet the Infanta of Salamanca - (extracts) / 57 (CONGO BRAZAVILLE) ALAIN MABANCKOU: When the cock announces the dawn of another day (extracts) / 67 (CONGO BRAZAVILLE) TCHICAYA U TAM'DI: Summary of a passion / 77 (extracts) (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) KAMA SYWOR KAMANDA: In the silence of hearts / 85, The song of resistance / 85, The song of destiny / 87, Haunted houses / 89, The beating of the drums / 91 (DJIBOUTI) ABDOURAHMAN A. WABERI: Desires / 97, Truce / 97,Engravings / 97, Nomadic miniatures / 101, Untitled / 103, Tales of yesterday / 105 (IVORY COAST)TANELLA BONI: The gift still to come (four poems) / 111, Goree baobab island (four poems) / 113 (LEBANON) VENUS KHOURY-GHATA: The shades (extracts) / 121 (MAURITIUS) EDOUARD MAUNICK: I once was a tree / 131 (MAURITIUS) KHAL TORABULLY: Cantata for the child from Cana (extract) / 139, Les Indiades, Odes to Pessoa (extract) / 139, Dark light cast on Aapravisi Ghat (extract) / 141, Hold full of stars, Coolitude (extracts) / 143, Dialogue of water and salt (extracts) / 145, The red shadow of gazelles (extract) / 147 (MOROCCO) ABDELLATIF LAABI: Small clean slate (extracts) / 153, Shoulders and the burden (extracts) / 155 (SENEGAL) BABACAR SALL: Bed of sand (extracts) / 165 (SENEGAL)AMADOU LAMINE SALL: My country is not a dead country / 175 (TUNISIA) TAHAR BEKRI: Afghanistan / 183, Shade / 187, Dream at Trieste / 187, The Fisherman of Moons / 189 (TUNISIA) SHAMS NADIR: The other Sindbad (extracts) / 197, Echoes of Isla Negra / 203 (TUNISIA) AMINA SAID: "each day the sun... " / 207, "the mothers sleep..." / 209, "from our birth place..." / 213 About the translators / 217
