In a decision welcomed by Tunisian researchers and novelists, the Ministry of Culture announced that several works previously banned by the Censorship Department will be freed for publication. The Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR) confirmed on Monday (February 18th) that Tunisia would lift the ban on books which have been held in a legal limbo for years.

An innovative project to celebrate Kenyan success has taken on a new relevance and urgency in the light of continuing troubles caused by the 2007 disputed elections. GenerationKenya 45, which will document outstanding contributions by a nominated selection of Kenyans, will ensure it takes into account the needs of national healing and reconciliation necessary to resolve the current crisis.

Multiple ideas would well articulate a constantly changing world’s vision and open Imaginary Lines to individual experiences in which the validation of the individual emotional and creative spaces can be reclaimed and legitimised within a collective public environment. This, however, would be based on the principle that cultural pluralism promotes tolerance, acceptance and mutual respect.

If it's true that the less costly straight-to-DVD journey of any historically rooted drama is potentially bolder and more truthful, by more effectively bypassing the profit-driven political censorship of Hollywood, then Black August is certainly a striking example of this promising trend. The searing drama is an earnest and reverential biopic delving into the tragic, short life of the late George Jackson, sixties US political prisoner, LA Black Panther spiritual and intellectual guiding force, and fierce leader within the Black prison movement at San Quentin.

Aryan Kaganof is a writer who possesses the rare capability to capture grotesque and bleak scenes and moments in words of a lyrical and poetic beauty that lands deep into the heart and mind of a reader like the melody of a serenading love song. In The Ballad of Sugar Moon and Coffin Deadly, Aryan Kaganof comes out as a brave and seasoned craftsman who is unflinching in dismantling the barricade between prose and poetry and between a poem and a novel. He goes into the depths of the dark and light areas of the heart of a murderer and blows to dust the false securities of the high-tech and securocratic world. Like a sharp-knife his words cut into the veil of order and security supposedly provided by the institutions of the sate, the army and the police as well as sophisticated technology. He exposes the gaps and lapses in the strictures and structures that are supposed to keep humanity in order.

The Ballad of Sugar Moon and Coffin Deadly tells the story of the romance between Coffin Deadly and Sugar Moon and their romance with death. Coffin Deadly is addicted to killing for its sake, just for the thrill and spasm that goes with the shattering shout of his Glock 19 mm parabelllum pistol and the shocked ogle of victims and onlookers whom he tells in advance what he is up to. He meets Sugar Moon at the abortion clinic, seduced by the look of greedy surprise in her eyes as he pulled out a bankroll of R200 notes, and drawn closer to her by her thin rubber-like legs and the tightness that clutches him beyond control during intercourse. The turning point in Coffin Deadly’s life is when he is rewarded not with the promised millions of dollars and the expected heroic status but time in prison for killing the most wanted terrorist in the world -Osama Bin Laden. To boot it all, this aesthetically progressive man who knows the inside-outs of Kwaito and listens to everything from opera music to house is bundled together in a cell with the crazy idiots of the Boeremag who cannot discern the poetics in Kwaito music. Inside he hears about the ill-fated death of Kwaito\Afro-Pop star Tebza of Mafikizolo fame and contemplates turning a new leaf.

Through the voice and deeds of Coffin Deadly- who personifies death and the death of conscience- Aryan Kaganof peers beneath the mask and veneer of civility and decorum to lay bare and open to the naked eye the frivolity and falsity of the li(f)e we live. Coffin Deadly commits his murders in broad-daylight, under the watchful eyes of the police and walking through the sophisticated vigilance of detectors and the security of digital cameras, electric fences and boom gates. His potent weapon is being and truthful about what he is, what he does and what drives him. All his killings and robberies are done under the public eye and yet he is the only audience of his actions. He provides the security guards, the police and the public with sincere answers of what he is up to and succinct clues that he is the murderer but they still do not get it. The only logical explanation of this is that society is too used to speaking and living a lie that it just cannot hear the voice that speaks about one real fact – death.

* Published by Pine Slopes Publications, 2007

We praise the man who,
though he held the match between
his finger and his thumb,
beheld the terror of its tiny drop of phosphorous,
its brown and globoid smoothness
like a charred and tiny skull
and so returned it to its box.

So too, we hail the youth who,
though he took his panga on the march,
perceived it odd within his fist
when there was neither scrub
nor firewood to be felled,
so laid it down.

An acclamation for the man who,
though he saw the woman running, clothing torn,
and though he lusted,
saw his mother in her youth,
restrained his colleagues
and withdrew.

We pay our homage to the man who,
though his heart was like a stone
and though he took a stone to cast,
could feel its hardness in the softness of his palm
and grasped the brittleness of bone,
so let it drop.

We laud the man who,
though he snatched to scrutinise
the passenger’s I.D.,
saw not the name – instead, the face –
and slid it back
as any friend might slide his hand to shake a friend’s.

And to the rest of us,
a blessing:
may you never have to be that man,
but if you have to,
BE!

*Stephen Partington, is the Kwani? poetry editor and a member of the Concerned Kenyan Writers Initiative.

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

I would not call this book a narrative in the conventional sense, but it tells a story nonetheless. It is a story of time, the times we live in. It is also (and this is where then non-narrative part comes in) a story of a man's mind. Charles is this man. His story is an engaging mixture of curiosity, great learning, down-to-earth humour, and social comment. He has left Cameroon for Merrie England to study philosophy, and he compares and contrasts the English society (and to my mind, the entire Western society by extension) with Africa. The hilarity occasioned by some of his observations is alone adequate recompense for buying the book.

The Zamdela Arts and Culture Center in conjunction with Ditiro Productions and Icebound Projects host the Zamdela Spoken Word Fest from 29 February to 2 March 2008. The festival is aimed at promoting the culture of reading and writing by improving the writing and performance expertise of budding writers and exposing their works to the broader community, and by building relations between emerging and established writers. Organizers hope that the event would boost the morale of writers and artists and open doors for publishing and recording opportunities for them

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to call for proposals for its revamped programme for the publication of text books for use in African universities. The programme was initially introduced as part of a broad set of objectives for achieving greater balance and relevance in curriculum development in African universities by making available to teachers and students, text books that are adapted to the African historical context and the environment of research and learning on the continent.

Goretti Kyomuhendo’s novella, Waiting, as the title suggests, is about waiting. A strange kind of waiting where, as the narrative unfolds, one does not experience the feeling that the characters or the community that are the novella’s focus are trapped or static. Rather, there is a lot of ‘movement,’ especially internal, as the characters adjust and go ahead to make lives that are both meaningful and normal in a war situation.

No Easy Victories makes clear that our lives and fortunes around the globe are indeed linked." - Nelson Mandela Hundreds of thousands of Americans mobilized to oppose apartheid in the 1980s. That successful movement built on decades of behind-the-scene s links between African liberation movements and American activists, both black and white.

we hear a woman’s raped every
30 minutes this fact needs to be
adjusted as 56 & more
many more were assaulted
inside the first 2 days of
premeditated brutality
of the elephants’ skirmish

their bodies are the frontline
where foes are belittled
& age-old grudges viciously settled
meanwhile rallies sermonise
peacemakers negotiate &
dealmakers mediate
they play the blame game who instigated
what who killed whom excuse me while
i spit & yet do not speak
of the trauma & the terror
& shun the soundless screams of
untold others who in mute silence suffer
they talk about democracy
about ethnocracy autocracy
& just about any cracy you can think of
malevolence shrouded in words
while powerless women little girls
boys & men are abused what
do they know about sacrilege how much
do they care about the shame & humiliation?
how many little girls did you rape today baba?
we know bodies may be healed but
spirit bruises soul lacerations are
indelible quotidian &
never ever leave your side

their bodies are a battlefield
whose destruction’s a conscious
act of ethnic cleansing

in some place we hear
the price for one rape is a goat how
many goats for gang rapes or
for sodomised little boys
we know this isn’t about gratification
nor passion & we are aware of the imperative
revenge domination control
opportunism thuggery it
really doesn’t really matter as the
sacrifice’s been made
the earth’s tasted their blood
their tears soak the ground
mission accomplished
they ask what they should do
as they pray for divine reckoning &
vengeance of cosmic magnitude
they live in constant sorrow & in dread of the hatred spewing
men with rungus for fists & serrated panga eyes
do they not feel pain when you
hurt them do they not bleed when you defile them?

their bodies are a battle ground
their violation
a weapon of war their
bodies are a combat zone
their degradation a
weapon of mass destruction

*Mshairi (poet in Kiswahili) administers the Kenyan Blogs Webring - KenyaUnlimited and the African Women’s Blog. You can find more work from the poet at

*Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

FOREIGN POLICY (www.foreignpolicy.com) describes itself as "the premier, award-winning magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas." This influential right-wing magazine produced in Washington DC, devoted a two page tirade as a review of Fahamu's book "From Slave Trade to 'free' trade". The review, written by Jeffrey Herbst, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Miami University concludes:

"... 'From the Slave Trade' speaks to more Africans than the speeches and databases of the world’s international financial institutions."

With a recommendation like that, how could you resist getting your own copy (it's available free as a download)!

Details at:

This novel is about coming of age and coming to terms in Mimboland. It is also about the fragility of life and the strength of the human spirit. The filth and screaming splendor of the city and the perplexed tranquility of the village are juxtaposed, as the tension and conviviality between tradition and modernity are lived and explored. Roads and drivers, dreams and public transport link different geographies. Faltering along or speeding away, these spaces of risk, frustration and solidarity are filled with popular songs as vehicles for understanding events and relationships.

Wideman’s first novel in a decade conjures the author of The Wretched of the Earth and his urgent relevance today Wideman’s fascinating new novel weaves together fiction, biography, and memoir to evoke the life and message of Frantz Fanon, the influential author of The Wretched of the Earth. A philosopher, psychiatrist, and political activist, Fanon was a fierce, acute critic of racism and oppression. Born of African descent in Martinique in 1927, Fanon fought to defend France during World War II and then later against France in Algeria’s war for independence.

This is a tribute to the “Man In Black T Shirt”
His name we may or may not know
But that’s how he was referred to by the KTN Television network...

The Ministry of Health has advised displaced Aids patients not to take an under dose of Antiretroviral drugs. The ministry acknowledged that victims might experience difficulties accessing the drugs, but cautioned against reduction of the daily dosage. On Thursday, the Director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal, asked patients who interrupt medication to keep records to enable medical staff help them when they resume.

Mike Davis’s book Planet of Slums provides a brilliant account of the rapid growth of urban areas and megaslums, created by the hammer blows of the global restructuring of the world system since the 1970s. Though Davis’s principle arguments concern the extraordinary growth of “megacities”, he also raises vital questions about the role of the working class in a world transformed by “market reforms” since the mid_1970s.

The struggle for control of biodiversity is passionate: Corporate leaders assume they can make billions; many scientists aspire to manufacturing “new” species; the promise of new cures tantalizes. But no scientist, no patent lawyer, or economist can depict the whole picture. This book gives voice to those in Africa who know better—and are willing to help others see the horror of the biopiracy and enclosure behind the camouflage of advancing “innovation,” “land reform,” and “free trade.” Sharing bioresources requires not only different views of science, of law, of trade, but also of community.

there are too many battles
and too many wounds
and I
I can't take it
I don't - want - to know

that Flora Tera
was force-fed feces
mixed with hair
torn from her head
only metres away
from her own home
in Meru
to stop her
running for office

I want to cover my ears and scream
to block out the voices that chant

that Piah Njoki had her eyes
gouged out by her husband
because she did not bear him
Your browser may not support display of this image.a son

I want to be free of the murder
that pounds in my brain

because Ann Njogu was beaten
kicked, dragged
down a flight of stairs
by the police
for daring to exercise
her constitutional right
to free speech

I want to pretend it won't happen to me

did you know that a woman is raped
every thirty minutes
every
thirty
minutes
in Kenya?

I am not a part of this bleeding
this scream
I don't want to challenge argue fight
construct confront negotiate
beg for change

do you hear me??

I want to retreat
to a room filled with
humans
shut out the night
the fear and the pain
hear myself stop
screaming inside

unravel my breathing ask
in a very
low
voice

dare I
claim the right Your browser may not support display of this image.
to a voice
that does not
scream?

Copyright Shailja Patel 2007.
*This poem was initially published in the WAJIBU JOURNAL Volume 22. No 4 (November - December 2007)