“Mandela was not the only head of state taken in by Koagne. Le king kept snapshots of himself with many a man of power, among them Mobutu Sese Seko and Denis Sassou Nguesso […] He took Mobutu for 15 million dollars. Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso lost 40 million to him. Sassou, Etienne Eyadéma of Togo, several high officials of Gabon, Tanzania and Kenya, a member of the Spanish government and an ex-operative of the Israeli Mossad were bamboozled as well.” – Dominique Malaquais (Blood Money: A Douala Chronicle).
Bantu Serenade by Ntone Edjabe (featuring Nah-ee-lah) (read excerpt)
Santu Mofokeng: Trajectory of a street photographer (part1) (read excerpt)
Binyavanga Wainaina: Hell In Bed With Mrs Peprah (read excerpt)
Dominique Malaquais: Lindela (the winnie suite) (read excerpt)
Boubacar Boris Diop: Myriem (read excerpt)
Cover:
Neo Muyanga
The Colours of Our Flag by Allan K. Horwitz (Botsotso, 2016)
The poet prefaces his preface to this collection with a quote by Octavio Paz which describes the nature of a poem as “the irruption of a present which periodically returns without a yesterday or tomorrow. Every poem is a Fiesta, a precipitate of pure time.”
This is an enticing cue as to how to read these poems for each piece claims its own space and the right to be an expression of that moment in which it was written. Kolski Horwitz utilizes this freedom with great energy resulting in many different moods, subject matter and forms.