Bøger udgivet af Kraft Books

Oyebode is a Nigerian poet and doctor, living in the UK - factors evident in this selection of his poems, many of which deal with issues of home and exlile, and the poet's place. His root society is his Yoruba homeland. He lives and writes in the foreign culture and belongs to, and is alienated from, aspects of both societies at the same time. His poetic longing is for the root culture - his exile has made the desire to keep the dream of home alive inevitable. On arrival, and England, he writes, 'a malarial lyricism/exiled and unaccompanied by song/arrived on this hostile shore.'The poems are selected, introduced and discussed at length by fellow Nigerian poet and academic, Onookome Okome.

A further title in the Kraftgriots poetry series. Ebereonwu's poetry is the restless song of the city, the night and vampires. Animal imagery recurs and reverberates through the collection. In the title poem, the poet prefers to sing of vultures, dogs in chains and hiding rats, rather than 'sweet songs/or like the caged bird praises'. His song - poetry that engenders insomnia - is intended as the antithesis of the lullaby, but insomnia turns out to be a positive metaphor in the poet's incursions. He writes that a man's mentality may limit his wealth, and 'I [mankind] can transverse the earth on the back of a vampire/But peace with fellow man/Is in the heart of the unborn'. Ebereonwu is a poet of the younger generation in Nigeria, a scriptwriter and film producer.

Isiak Aligan is a publisher, journalist and poet. This is his first collection of prose fiction in the short story genre. There are ten tightly constructed stories, focussing sharply on physical and mental aspects of Nigeria. The title story, The Scars of the Moon, relates the sombre psychological experiences of a jaded soldier, Captaion Moses, and his junior, Omolola, at a military preparation camp. The older soldier is trying to confront his past, and now present fears, halluncinations and nightmares. He joined the army against the slavery of thr past at the beginning of the civil war, and yet mental torment, hatred and madness have persisted. The reader may wonder about the present and future psychological scarring of a military way of life - in the context of the story and beyond - as the trauma repeats itself in the younger soldier. He can only find solace in a relationship with a girl who has given up on her body and mind and the world. The work received an honourable mention in the Association of Nigerian Authors' Prose Prize.