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It consists of poetry from the modern era (1930s up until the 80s or so, with a couple of newer pieces here and there). First, it is old, and the only anthology of its kind to date. It is shameful that this is the only anthology of modern African poetry. This anthology is perhaps the most incredible anthology of poetry that I have on my shelf. With such talented poets living in a continent filled with violence, political despair and such pride and love, the poetry of Africa is just as relevant and important to our soul as the poetry from Europe and the US. This brings me to the flaws of the anthology. I applaud Penguin for choosing to support the efforts Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier, but this is not enough.
Whoever thinks that Africa cannot produce poetry needs to read a few pages from this volume. That being said, there are only a few instances where I felt completely lost; but footnotes would have been invaluable. Anyone outside of Africa won't get any of the language references or the cultural nuances. There are poets of meter, free verse, and even hints of language poetry here and there. Second, this book is in dire need of footnotes.
I did expect it to be so fantastic, but it blew me away. The 4th edition was printed in 1998, and it's time for something new and more updated, perhaps to see where the poets in this anthology have ended up. I especially enjoyed the poems of Lenrie Peters and Kofi Anyidoho. The poets represented here are masters of skill and technique. The imagery is sharp, the language is fluid and the messages are clear: in other words, if you love poetry, there's something in here for you.
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