let us not think of them as barbarians

by Peter Midgley

Peter Midgley's let us not think of them as barbarians is a bold narrative of love, migration, and war hewn from the stones of Namibia. Sensual and intimate, these evocative poems fold into each other to renew and undermine multiple poetic traditions. Gradually, the poems assemble an ombindi--an ancestral cairn--from a history of violent disruption. Underlying the intense language is an exploration of African philosophy and its potential for changing our view of the world. Even as the poems look to the past, they push the reader towards a future that is as relevant to contemporary Canada as it is to the Namibian earth that bled them.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2019

About the author

Thirty years working as a festival director, freelance editor, university lecturer, managing editor, acquisitions editor, clerk of court, bartender, janitor and door-to-door salesman (and some other unmentionable jobs), has given Peter Midgley enough material for twelve books for children and adults. His latest book is let us not think of them as barbarians (NeWest Press). You can reach him via his website.

Reviews

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I'd grab something local for my poetry kick and somehow settled on a collection about a people on the other side of the world.

let us not think of them as barbarians focuses on the ovaherero, a people indigenous to Namibia, who were the victims of a genocide in the early 20th century. The poetry is wildly evocative, showing the peace of their past clashing with the pain of their colonization on both a personal and societal level. 

This is a fantastic collection, and the one major weakness is something brought up in the afterword: there is an untranslatable essence to the experience that colonial readers will never fully experience. This is good—it is proof that the genocide failed, that there is something that colonial powers failed to conquer. But this collection attempts to translate it anyways, liberally sprinkling in Afrikaans with detailed footnotes to make it seem more "African" for lack of a better word.

This is great poetry, but definitely reads like it was written for the colonists, which is a weird feel. Then again, a collection on genocide should probably give you some weird feels.

[Colleen Jantzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hauntingly beautiful