Poets of Mozambique: A Bilingual Anthology

by Frederick G. Williams

The literature of Mozambique is a hidden gem, rich but unknown to English speakers except for a few novels by Mia Couto. This anthology brings Mozambique's poetry to English for the first time. The twenty-seven poets and more than 130 poems in "Poets of Mozambique" cover the entire history of Mozambican literature. from its beginnings as oral literature, through its more than 400-year long colonial period and its more than 30 years as an independent nation. Faithfully rendered, Williams' translations are both beautiful and present the inherent literary value of an important branch of African literature. With this anthology, Mozambique's poetry is finally available to English speakers.

482 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

-Preface: “…broad range of topics, and political points of view, as well as a diversity of racial and cultural ethnicity” p 11.

This collection begins with pre-colonial oral literature and advances by decade of birth of the poets.

I absolutely loved this anthology. There were short autobiographies of the twenty seven poets included and a short history of Mozambique in general.

It includes poems by the well known author [[Mia Couto]] and his father, [[Fernando Couto]], a well-known poet.

This collection of over 130 poems, by a variety of authors and political views was very helpful to me in not only learning the poetry traditions but the very essence of the country.

This book is bilingual, with the Portuguese on one side and the English on the facing page.