Bøger af Ezenwa-Ohaeto

This is the first biography of Chinua Achebe. His novels span the African experience of colonialism, independence and of civilian and military corruption. His short stories in particular reflect his involvement in the Biafran civil war in Nigeria. His poetry, both in English and Igbo, reveals a sensitive talent. His children's stories introduced the young and their parents to the excitement of books. Chinua Achebe had an active and generous role in encouraging other African writers by starting the literary journal Okike, by founding a publishing house in war-torn Nigeria and by introducing, in his role as the Founding Editor of the African Writers Series, new writers to a worldwide audience. Through his teaching in universities in Africa and America he showed the importance of Africa's own literature in the re-establishment of its cultural independence.

The author explains his poetic mission thus: 'it is the cultural tradition in my part of the world, that when abominations become unbearable, and the truth must be told with great courage, then the night masquerade appears...in order to set a senseless practice right; sometimes the night masquerade must confront the ruler and point out the nakedness of his utterances...this is the voice of the night masquerade, I am only the medium.' The ensuing collection of poems is divided into three sections: 'Night' - alluding to the night the mother of the spirits walked the length and breadth of the clan, weeping for her murdered son, in 'Things Fall Apart'; 'Night Vigil', and 'Night Passages'. This book was joint winner of the Association of Nigerian Authors' Poetry Prize in 1997.

'My ancestors were minstrels. Their honeyed tongue could weave lyrics out of almost all forms of human interactions and activities. This tradition is encapsulated by the performance of the famous ode poetry prevalent among their descendants, which is presented under numerous kinds of stimuli. Thus the emotional impulses expressed here, the rhetorical modes adopted here and the verbalised rhythmic sequences illustrated here are derived from the minstrel tradition associated with ode poetry performance... The use of alternative poetic models is equally a result of a sophisticated understanding of the forms of performance discernible in other traditions...it is the amalgamation of imaginative narratives, folklore and contemporary concerns... There is no doubt that this cultural model of the minstrel generates abundant inspiration and provides a variety of artistic modes that enable the mind of the poet to distil new chants. I drank from the spring of tradition. My ancestors were minstrels and I have only continued in the same tradition.'