Africa! My Africa! – powerful poetry with a cause

by Philip | May 28, 2013 | News | 0 comments

“Africa! My Africa! is an anthology of some 190 poems, compilation of which began in 1997 simply by choosing poems that touched me”, explains Patricia Schonstein. “As the collection grew, similarity in the ‘types of fabric’ that made up the whole became apparent:

Love. Song. Loss. Exile. Journeys. War’s folly. Figures in urban and rural landscapes. Wilderness. Simple pictures of life. Shades of the human condition. Pathos. Poignancy. The joy in small things. Light. The colours of Africa.The completed work seems to be a jewelled quilt, one that glows in the dark, rippling in a dune-movement of lyricism.”

Proceeds from the sale of this anthology of poetry, Africa! My Africa! will go to Seed Readers. Seed Readers’ manifesto is grounded in principles of peace, non-violence, non-racism and care of the earth.

Its four-pronged purpose is to produce and deliver storybooks of quality to children marginalized by poverty; to imbed those stories with sound social and personal values; to inspire children to live ethically and in a sustainable manner; and to empower children in their role as future custodians of the earth.

REVIEW COMMENTS:

“This is an evocative anthology of treasures put together with passion and love. Its alphabet of poets provides a gateway to multiple perspectives of Africa and a landscape of human emotions.”
– Richard Freedman, Director of the South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation

“Reading this collection I feel that I’m there, in Africa.”
– Birgitta Wallin, Editor, Karavan, Sweden

“Can anything capture the opposites, the contradictions, the calamitous urgency and un-peace of being born in Africa like a poem can? This collection, so lovingly and thoughtfully put together, is all aching poignancy, with each poem resonating along the scale of the whole.”
– Karin Schimke, poet, writer, Cape Times Books Editor

Patricia Schonstein