Imaginative Vision of Abdilatif Abdalla’s Voice of Agony

Abdilatif Abdalla is a celebrated Kenyan poet and political activist.Annmarie Drury is Associate Professor of English, Queens College, City University of New York.

• Editor’s Introduction by Annmarie DruryPreface to the Translation by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’oTranslator’s Introduction by Ken Walibora Waliaula Voice of Agony | Sauti ya Dhiki Translated by Ken Walibora WaliaulaI Won’t Compromise | N’shishiyelo ni LiloGo and Console Him | KamliwazeWorry Not | Tuza MoyoThe Boil | JipuI’ll Never Let Go | SiwatiCrocodile | MambaI Remember You | NakukumbukaHuman Perfection | Ukamilifu wa MjaWhat Has Offended You? | Lilokuudhi ni Lipi?Coconut Palm: A Tug-of-War | Mnazi: Vuta N’kuvuteThis Speaking Out | Kuno KunenaSlipperiness | TeleziSpeak Out, You Who Dare | Semani Wenye KusemaEven a Clever Guy Can’t Shave His Own Head | Muwerevu HajinyowiIt Will End | YatakomaAlas, My Friend! | Ah! MwenzanguBe Gone, Anxiety | Wasiwasi Enda ZakoWhat a Bad Fellow! | Mja Si MwemaWhat Will Happen? | Lipi Litakalokuwa?Our Mother Africa | Mamaetu AfrikaYesterday and Today and Tomorrow | Jana na Leo na KeshoA Precious Thing Can’t Last | Chema HakudumuBe Patient, My Heart | Moyo Iwa Na SubiraDon’t Kill Me! | Usiniuwe!Things Have Their Own Ways | Mambo Yana Mambo YakeDon’t Listen to Them | Watiliye PambaPampering | TendekezoI Wouldn’t Be Here Today | Leo N’singekuwakoCockadoodle-do! | Kokoiko!Don’t Cling to Silence | ’Sikakawane na KimyaTravelers, Let’s Wake Up | Wasafiri TuamkeniCome to Your Senses | ZindukaniGoodbye | Kwa HeriThe Town Cockerel and the Country One | La Mjini na La ShambaWash Him | MuosheniI’m Coming | NajaCrossroads | Ndiya PandaA Thing Can’t Be Human | Kichu Hakiwi Ni UchuTit for Tat | KutendanaI’m Back | N’sharudiCritical PerspectivesSauti ya Dhiki: Its Place in Swahili Literature and East African Literature by Ann BierstekerAbdilatif and I: Reflections on Comparative Experiences by Alamin MazruiRhymed, Metrical Translations of Four Poems by Meg Arenberg This is What I Hold Fast | N’shishiyelo ni LiloCrocodile | MambaI Remember You | NakukumbukaWhich Will It Be? | Lipi Litakalokuwa?Textual Backgrounds: Voice of Agony in Its Historical MomentKenya: Twendapi? | Kenya: Where Are We Heading? by Abdilatif Abdalla, Translated by Kai Kresse Introduction to the 1973 edition by Shihabuddin Chiraghdin, Translated by Ann Biersteker Author’s Preface to the 1973 edition by Abdilatif Abdalla, Translated by Ann Biersteker BibliographyNotes on Contributors

“This important book finally presents us with a translation of the poetry anthology by the Swahili poet Abdilatif Abdalla, the first political prisoner of independent Kenya. Through the fine translations by Ken Walibora Waliaula and Annmarie Drury we can hear the ever-changing voices of his poetry. With rare expertise, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Alamin Mazrui, Ann Biersteker, Meg Arenberg and Kai Kresse offer a global readership a prism through which to explore the many ‘imaginative visions’, in which the sociopolitical and the lyrical are so deeply intertwined.”