Liqaye Posted October 2, 2003 PROFILE: Taban Lo Liyong was born in Kajokaji, in the southern Sudan, in the late 1930s. He grew up in Uganda, and studied at National Teachers' College (Kampala), Howard University, and got an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa. He has taught at the universities of Nairobi, Papua New Guinea, Juba, and now at the University of Venda in South Africa. He is the author of numerous works of poetry and fiction. Review of ANOTHER NIGGER DEAD! Another Nigger Dead begins promisingly enough. The first lines of the first poem are: bless the african coups tragedy now means a thing to us It is one of the longer poems in the book -- and, like much of the book, uneven. It looks for grandeur in tragedy -- "it is not a tragedy / if the stakes are minimal" -- though it is not entirely consistent. It is a listing and an interpretation of what tragedy is, what it involves. Elements of the poem succeed, but the whole only half convinces. There are a number of other longer poems. i walked among men in america for a year, for example, is a narrative piece that retells Taban's odd marriage (and its end), closing in a "prophesy and curse". It is, certainly of biographical interest, and it is not badly expressed. But it is uncertain poetry. The last piece in the book is Batsiary in Sanigraland, a prose poem -- and the only piece in the collection with punctuation (even apostrophes !). The bulk of the poems, however, are very short pieces, each between two and six lines long, printed three to a page. Different sides of Taban are revealed, especially the writer, "a babbler by the seaside". There is unexpected humility at times: how wide a vocabulary must a man have to explore meanings in the world sometimes words fail me The limits of language are echoed elsewhere as well: i know what it means to fall in love with words they are so inadequate and my stock runs dry There is some "building a life philosophy / through juggling with words". He insists: "you create yourself". There is some politics, but these brief lessons are generally more general. The poetic quality varies. There are clever, well expressed lines, but few of the poems -- even of the short pieces -- are fully realized. A few do stand out, in particular: id have loved god more had christian missionaries confirmed my superstitions its hard to believe after being undeceived Some of the simplest pieces work best: all men seek happiness in very unlikely places Overall, Another Nigger Dead is certainly an interesting collection -- and not nearly as contentious as one might expect from both Taban and from the title. A slight sense of defeat and disillusionment -- including his failed marriage and the impotence of the writer to truly affect change -- pervades the texts (from title onwards). Taban remains unpredictable (a positive, here), and the personal quality is also a strength. Little is completely successful, but there is enough here to make the collection a worthwhile one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
