Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing

by Jack Mapanje (Editor)

This anthology introduces the African literature of incarceration to the general reader, the scholar, the activist and the student. The visions and prison cries of the few African nationalists imprisoned by colonialists, who later became leaders of their independent dictatorships and in turn imprisoned their own writers and other radicals, are brought into sharper focus, thereby critically exposing the ironies of varied generations of the efforts of freedom fighters. Extracts of prose, poetry and plays are grouped into themes such as arrest,interrogation, torture, survival, release and truth and reconciliation. Contributors Kunle Ajibade, Obafemi Awolowo, Steve Biko, Breyten Breytenbach, Dennis Brutus, Nawal El Saadawi, M J Kariuki, Kenneth Kaunda, Caesarina Kona Makhoere, Nelson Mandela, Emma Mashinini, Felix Mnthali, Augustino Nato, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Kwame Nkrumah, Abe Sachs, Ken Saro Wiwa, Wole Soyinka, and Koigi wa Wamwere. Although an often harrowing indictment of the history, culture and politics of the African continent and the societies from which this literature comes, the anthology presents excellent prose, poetry and drama, which stands up in its own right as serious literature to be cherished, read and studied.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Malawi

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Jack Mapanje (born 25 March 1944)[1] is a Malawian writer and poet. He was the head of English at the Chancellor College, the main campus of the University of Malawi before being imprisoned in 1987 for his collection Of Chameleons and Gods, which indirectly criticized the administration of President Hastings Banda. He was released in 1991 and emigrated to the UK, where he worked as a teacher.

Reviews

[Nana Fredua-Agyeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing (Heinemann, 2002; 328) edited by Jack Mapanje is an anthology of essays, poems, articles, songs and speeches by Africans who have at one point in time been political prisoners or have had political infractions with the law and have been jailed for it. The collection is broken into Origins; Arrest, Detention and Prison; Torture; Survival; and The Release. In this anthology one will meet the pioneers of independence fighters in Africa like Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Agostinho Neto of Angola and others; also present are the fighters against apartheid in South Africa: Steve Biko, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Breyten Breytenbach; equally important are the post-independent right fighters such as Jack Mapanje, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and others.

Contributors come from all the various regions of Africa: north, east, west, central and south. However, what this collection shows is the similarity in human wickedness regardless of the location. Even more important is the comparison of pre-independence and post-independence.

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[Namrirru · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of essays, poems, and memoirs by artists, writers (journalists, novelists, playwrights, poets), politicians and some who were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. They've all spent a difficult time in jail for political reasons.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is studying African history or independence/post-colonialism. As one would expect, most of the pieces are from former settler colonies and most are written by men.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of these writings are pretty boring and hard to get into if you don't have a deep knowledge of the history of many individual countries in Africa. I read this for a thesis project on prisons, so I had to take notes on it. I likely would have enjoyed some of the writings a lot more if they were read casually. Some of the authors are very talented and have interesting biographies to share, like Wole Soyinka and Ken Saro-Wiwa.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Combining poetry and history so neatly without overburdening the reader with the true darkness in it takes some skill. This is a book I am going to refer to again and again. It's a book African children should have with them lest they forget what freedom means, it's a book every freedom fighter should possess. This is an important and significant piece of literature.