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Mandela the Spear and Other Poems
Mandela the Spear and Other Poems
Mandela the Spear and Other Poems
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Mandela the Spear and Other Poems

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The strength of Mandela the Spear and other Poems lies in Okai s burning desire to celebrate the black experience and culture, through the iconic figures who symbolize those struggles and triumphs. Thus, not surprisingly, one encounters names like Mandela, Nadine Gordimer, Amilcar Cabral, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, to name a few. Okai has long established himself as one of the towering figures in the field of modern African poetry in English. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of a vigorous reinvention of the poetic genre that revolutionized the poet/audience relationship, changed the mode of expression from scriptography to narratology, and the role of the audience from that of passive reception to active participation.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 24, 2013
ISBN9780992187538
Mandela the Spear and Other Poems
Author

Atukwei Okai

Okai’s poems have been translated into several languages, including Russian, Spanish, German, Arabic, French, Italian and have appeared in anthologies and several prominent international journals such as The Atlantic Monthly, the New African, African Arts ( UCLA), Black World, Literary Cavalcade, The New American Review, and Universitas. Okai’s first collection of poems, Flowerfall, was published in June 1969 by Writers Forum in London. His second volume of poems, The Oath of The Fontomfrom and Other Poems was published in New York, U.S.A., in June 1971 by Simon and Schuster.

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Atukwei Okai was a major poet from Ghana. His poetry is very musical in nature and is intended for public performance, so, they have more in common with rap music than with traditional, European poetry.
    Mandela the Spear is made up mostly of long poems praising various African nationalist figures. He name checks dozens of politicians, sports figures, artists and musicians as well as geographical locations. These names are all explained in the extensive notes which make up over a third of the book.
    It would have been helpful if these notes had been cross-linked to individual lines in the poems, instead of merely listed in the back of the book. Because Okai was a Marxist, he tends to ignore the human rights abuses and outright atrocities committed by many of the pan-African leaders he praises in these poems.
    These caveats aside, Mandel the Spear is essential reading for those interested in modern African literature. (less)

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Mandela the Spear and Other Poems - Atukwei Okai

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