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This collection consists of 49 insightful essays by leading
Cameroonian blogger Dibussi Tande, which originally appeared on his
award-winning blog Scribbles from the Den. These essays tackle some
of the most pressing and complex issues facing Cameroon today such
as the stalled democratization process, the perennial Anglophone
problem, the crisis of higher education, the absence of the rule of
law, the lack of leadership renewal, a stifled collective memory,
and a continued inability to harness technology for purposes of
national development, among others. Scribbles from the Den goes
beyond the news headlines to dispassionately analyze and unravel
the complexities of Cameroonian politics and society.
Bate Besong was Cameroon's most vocal and controversial poet,
playwright and scholar, who died in March 2007. The poems in this
collection are a tribute to the man and his work, and provide a
snapshot of the mood that prevailed after his death. Bate Besong
ushered in a new kind of nationalist "fighting" literature in
Cameroon, unapologetic in its defense of Cameroon's Anglophone
minority and scathing in its denunciation of postcolonial African
dictators and their foreign collaborators. These poems defy Bate
Besong's death by affirming that his impact as a writer lives on.
34 poems are included from 30 poets. "Moving and tellingly
generous, these tributes attest to the value of Bate Besong as
humanist, artist, and patriot; the 'Inextinguishable Flame' of his
inspiration; the triumph of his life over the pain of his
departure. Here is a resonant celebration not only of the brief but
boisterously bright fire of one of our bravest writers, but also of
the unbreakable chord of our common humanity. The refrains in these
elegies are anthems of hope. The ink in their lines will for ever
stay aglow." Niyi Osundare, Nigerian writer & former teacher of
Bate Besong "These poems put into perspective the essence of that
Anglophone Cameroon literary icon, the fearless "Obasinjom Warrior"
with the bemused smile, who once upon a time, was called Bate
Besong." Ba'bila Mutia, Professor of Literature, ENS, University of
Yaounde 1, Cameroon. Author of Coils of Mortal Flesh
No Turning Back relives the tumultuous beginnings of Africa's
democratization experiment in the early 1990s. The main theme of
the collection is an investment in hope and in the resilience of
Africans. The poems are loud and clear in their castigation of
dictatorship and its miseries. They celebrate the mass resolve and
thirst for democracy by Africans for whom there is 'No turning back
' 'A lucid and truly memorable collection of poems. Dibussi forces
us to turn back and look at the pivotal volcanic moments in
Cameroon's history between 1990- 1993... As a student activist and
budding journalist during this historic period, Dibussi captures
cadences of this struggle eloquently.' Joyce Ashuntantang, Ph.D.,
Department of English, University of Connecticut, Greater Hartford,
USA. 'This collection is an important document chronicling, through
verse, the events of an era in a given space with unmitigated
passion.' Kangsen Wakai, poet, Houston, Texas, USA '. a subtle yet
unapologetic critique of Cameroon's chequered history of predatory
governance. The poems provide succor to a people besieged first by
the unrealised dreams of a political (mis)marriage and then a false
promissory note on which their democratic development is written.'
George Ngwane, Chair, National Book Development Council - Cameroon
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