Description
Journey into Madness is a welcome entry in the African creative and literary landscape that will not only be a major contribution to the growth and development of the poetic genre in the region, but more importantly, will generate heated debates on the value and role of verse versus other creative genres in the contemporary situation. The anthology is deliberately partitioned per overarching thematic concerns, which revolve around the everyday experiences and conditions in our current society: religion, love, politics, war, betrayal and culture among others. The three poets bring their different styles of poetic construction to bear on their finished products, thereby offering the necessary variety vital in an anthology and making it quite rich both in terms of form and of material content. It appeals to a wide variety of readers, from the secondary school student to university scholars, and to all lovers of poetry all over the world. It effectively debunks the myth that writing good poetry is for a select few, and clearly demonstrates it can be done merely by being an aficionado. This is an anthology that provokes a reevaluation of the significance currently placed on poetry – in relation to the other literary genres – in Kenya today.
Tobias Otieno Odongo obtained his BA and MA degrees in literature from the University of Nairobi in the early 1990s and for nearly two decades has been teaching Creative Writing in the Department of Literature, Theatre and Film at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. His poems have been anthologized in among other texts Echoes Across the Valley (EAEP) and Counterpoint and Other Poems (Oxford) and his novel, The Missing Links (EAEP) received rave reviews on its first publication in 2001.
T. Michael Mboya teaches in the Department of Literature, Theatre and Film at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. His poems have been published in several magazines, journals and anthologies.
Kelvin Karani works at Equity Bank Limited. He has been published by OUP in Counterpoint and Other Poems and in a number of blogs. He is an on-and-off blogger interested in poetry, politics and business.
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