Having a servant prostrate herself at my feet is not something I had ever imagined I would experience. It seemed so of another century. But this morning as I was leaving SinhaRaja’s home, the cook and her daughter came to the front...
As all writers know, writing is not like riding a bike. Every time you sit down to write, it feels like the first time. The same anxieties, the same doubts, the same indecisions that you had in the past happen again. It’s no wonder that so many talented and brilliant writers stop writing. I think it takes a kind of stubbornness and unwillingness to let go to be a writer. These traits are not necessarily healthy or admirable, but they are necessary to write. This is especially true when you haven’t written for a period of time. The more time that lapses between the last time you wrote and the next, the harder it becomes...
Sunlight blazed on the orange robes of a half dozen Buddhist monks strolling along the Kandy Lake outside the Temple of the Sacred Tooth. (Catholics have nothing...
Reginald Asangba Taluah’s poem “A Voice from Within” begins with an invocation in the tradition of song from the Upper East Region of Ghana. He likes to remind people that “in some African languages mere conversations stand as poetry and tno to mention the occasions when the drums, flutes and other instruments are accompanied in euphony by the potent voices of performers.”
“Since most great literature in Africa is to be found in Oral traditions one needs to get back to these roots in order to portray that heritage,” writes Taluah.
When Nii Lantey recited his poem “Obunkutu” last fall at the University of Legon , the entire audience cheered. Nii explains that “Obunkutu is a sacred appellation to warriors about to embark on a war expedition. It is enigmatic of a warrior charge. It is an invocation of unity among warriors for victory in battle, an incantation for uncountable warrior soldiers from the land of the dead to join the living in battle. It is a vibration of deadly resolution to fight.
“Obunkutu is no joke and must not be mentioned in peaceful times. It is bloody and...
Featured Poet: Spoken Word Poet Rhyme Sunny Reciting “Rose”
When I heard Rhyme Sunny recite his poem “Rose,” I was delighted by how he stepped into a long tradition of working the rose as a trope for love and relationships, but found something fresh and original in Rhyme Sunny’s poem. The poem reminded me of Guillaume Apollonaire’s famous poem “Rosemonde.” Since I don’t have printed copy of Rhyme Sunny’s poem, I thought I would share Appollonaire’s poem (without accents because they won’t translate on the website) and you can compare it to the video recording of Rhyme Sunny’s recitation. Enjoy.
Featured Poet: Novisi Dzitrie reading “Ol’ Driver Grand-Papa”
Watch the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1GS2B6M_Cw
Novisi Dzitrie comments on his own work and on poetry in Ghana:
As a young poet I feel there is a generational gap so far as the literary scene and the poetry scene for that matter in Ghana is concerned in that we have not consciously or otherwise followed the exploits of trailblazers like Ama Atta Aidoo and Ayikwe Armah.
This I believe poses a great challenge for the young writers in Ghana today. I recall the joy I had when...
The Ghana Poetry Project
Featured Poets: Crystal Tettey and Black
Watch Crystal Tettey "There Are Still Kids" and then Black riff on the refrain from the poem on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g1m2KrqPPE
The two performances by Crystal Tettey and Black offer a fascinating interaction and collaboration between two <!--more-->poetic sensibilities. At first blush, one might think that the Ghanaian Spoken Word Poet Black was mocking Tettey, but in actuality he is paying tribute to her and her art by taking up the refrain from her poem “There Are Still Kids” and expanding on it. This kind of collaborative performance occurs all the time...
Or go to link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkLP6V3C414&feature=channel_page
Mariska Taylor-Darko’s “I Love Ghana” resonates with the same kind of expansiveness as the poems of Walt Whitman. Taylor-Darko’s work celebrates the Ghanaian identity with exuberance and vivid, figurative observation. A mother of two boys, she began writing late in life. She lives in Accra. She describes her thoughts on poetry: “Poetry is one of the most satisfying ways of expressing my innermost feelings and a way ofnarrating and revealing what I as an individual have experienced. I love Poetry and Poets. Poetry in Ghana is now being understood by the young and many more...
Go to this link to watch her reading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTWvuHnqidE
“Poetry is an earth pot that holds powerful words,” writes Nana Nyarko Boateng, “reaching smells, a garland of images, a cocktail of emotions, spirit music.” Boateng is a 22 year old poet attending the University of Ghana where she is studying English and Political Science. She writes, “The centerpiece of our poetic culture is performance, the oratory, the music and involvement of the audience has become less apparent in contemporary Ghanaian poetry; the proverbial “horse tail” seems to be held not in full grips. There is a gap...
