The imaginative vision of Abdilatif Abdalla's Voice of agony / Abdilatif Abdalla ; poems translated by Ken Walibora Waliaula ; edited by Annmarie Drury.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946- author.

Contributor:

Walibora, Ken, translator.

Drury, Annmarie, editor.

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Series:

African perspectives (University of Michigan. Press)

African perspectives

Language:

English

Swahili

Subjects (All):

Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946- Sauti ya dhiki.

Abdalla, Abdilatif.

Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946---Criticism and interpretation.

Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946---Political and social views.

Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946-.

Swahili poetry--20th century--History and criticism.

Swahili poetry.

Swahili literature.

African literature.

African languages--Poetry.

African languages.

South African literature.

Bantu literature.

Bantu languages.

Political and social views.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 344 pages ; 23 cm.

Other Title:

Abdilatif Abdalla's Voice of agony

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2024.

Language Note:

In English and Swahili, poems translated from Swahili.

Summary:

"The extraordinary Swahili poetry collection Sauti ya Dhiki, in English Voice of Agony, is a collection of prison poems composed by Abdilatif Abdalla between 1969 and 1972. He originally wrote the poems on toilet paper while incarcerated by the government of Jomo Kenyatta for sedition as a result of his political activism. Imaginative Vision is the first complete literary translation into English-translated by the late Kenyan novelist and scholar Ken Walibora Waliaula and edited by Annmarie Drury-of one of the most esteemed and influential collections of Swahili poetry of the twentieth century. Yet, Imaginative Vision is also something more. Even as it centers in a literary translation of a singularly beautiful and influential book of poetry, it tells English-language readers the story of that book. Supporting materials illuminate the circumstances of its inception when Abdilatif, aged 22, was arrested and tried. They explore what the volume meant to its first readers and its affiliations with subsequent extraordinary works of prison literature by Alamin Mazrui and Ngu̳gi̳ wa Thiong'o. They trace its links to literary art of the past, including of the nineteenth-century poet Muyaka bin Haji, and to writing that followed. And they explain social and historical aspects of the Swahili coastal world that nurtured Abdilatif's political engagement and stunning verbal art. Under the editorship of scholar, translator, and poet Annmarie Drury, contributors bring insights from their diverse backgrounds to present contextualizing material that illuminates the poems at the heart of this book." -- Page 4 of cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Editor's introduction / Annmarie Drury -- Preface to the translation / Ngu̳gi̳ wa Thiong'o -- Translator's introduction / Ken Walibora Waliaula -- Voice of Agony = Sauti ya Dhiki / translated by Ken Walibora Waliaula -- Critical perspectives -- Sauti ya Dhiki : its place in Swahili literature and East African literature / Ann Biersteker -- Abdilatif and I : reflections on comparative experiences / Alamin Mazrui -- Rhymed, metrical translations of four poems / Meg Arenberg -- Textual backgrounds : Voice of Agony in its historical moment -- Kenya : twendapi? = Kenya : where are we heading? / Abdilatif Abdalla, translated by Kai Kresse -- Introduction to the 1973 edition / Shihabuddin Chiraghdin, translated by Ann Biersteker -- Author's preface to the 1973 edition / Abdilatif Abdalla, translated by Ann Biersteker -- Bibliography -- Notes on contributors.

Contains:

Container of: Abdalla, Abdilatif, 1946- Sauti ya dhiki. English.

Container of: Sauti ya dhiki. English.

Container of: Voice of agony. Swahili.

Other Format:

Online version: Abdalla, Abdilatif. Imaginative vision of Abdilatif Abdalla's Voice of agony

ISBN:

9780472076611

0472076612

9780472056613

0472056611

OCLC:

1390117758