Requiem, Rwanda

Häftad, Engelska, 2015

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A marvelous, moving new collection of poems, Requiem, Rwanda has its roots in 2006, when Laura Apol made her first trip to Rwanda. Apol’s initial goal was to develop, in conjunction with Rwandan and American colleagues, a project using narrative writing to facilitate healing among young survivors of the 1994 genocide. During the time she spent leading workshops, Apol felt moved to write her own poems, and after the writing-for-healing project ended, she returned to Rwanda several times to continue her creative work. The legacy of the genocide—on the people, on the land itself—makes its presence felt in many of the poems. The poems are also accounts of Apol’s relationships with and understandings of people post-genocide—where their stories go, how they reenter their lives, and how a country that has been deeply wounded by its history continues on. These poems don’t shy away from exploring the complications of being a white woman, a Westerner, and a witness in this setting: Apol relates her sense of compassion, privilege, horror, guilt, voyeurism, obligation, and love. This new collection is a rich testimonial to the strength of a nation and its people. The collection includes a closing essay, "Writer as a Witness."

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2015-02-01
Mått152 x 229 x 12 mm
Vikt203 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor123
FörlagMichigan State University Press
ISBN9781611861587

Tillhör följande kategorier

Poesi inom Skonlitteratur
Afrikas historia inom Historia och arkeologi
Samhälle och kultur inom Samhalle och politik

Contents Foreword Preface Prologue: A Brief History of Rwanda Introit Genesis: The Source of the Nile Dies Irae Early April in Rwanda Six Seconds Even the Land Did Not Escape Canticle for the Bones of the Dead Genocide Site 1: Nyamata Church Genocide Site 2: Ntarama Church Eucharist Mother of God Church at Nyange Lacrimosa Witness Rift The Lives of Others Left Pink Confession Return to Remera Dry Bones Sanctus At the Hotel Bar Watching a Man Cut the Grass Lifelines Before Memorial Week: April 5, 2009 Poolside after Dark Testimony Meeting François in Heaven Samuel and the Boys Gorilla Family Amahoro Umuganda Reparations Rwanda Stands up for Haiti: January 2010 Language Lessons Benedictus Milkfugue Notes on the Poems Epilogue: Writer as Witness Notes Additional Resources Acknowledgments

“As if breaking through the distracting cacophony of the outsider’s voice, of history, of landscape, of curiosities, there come these terrible grace moments of song from the voices of Rwandans— from their memories, their hauntings, their rituals of forgetting and remembering—and in them we are reminded of the blunt truth of a human tragedy that defies language. Apol holds these moments as sacred, and in so doing she, too, becomes a witness.”—KWAME DAWES, author of Duppy Conqueror: New and Selected PoemsAs if breaking through the distracting cacophony of the outsider’s voice, of history, of landscape, of curiosities, there come these terrible grace moments of song from the voices of Rwandans—from their memories, their hauntings, their rituals of forgetting and remembering—and in them we are reminded of the blunt truth of a human tragedy that defies language. Apol holds these moments as sacred, and in so doing she, too, becomes a witness.—KWAME DAWES, author of Duppy Conqueror: New and Selected PoemsThis is a book like no other: a small collection of remarkable poems, yes, but also an encapsulated history, a treatise on the healing power of story, a guide that will serve as a model on how to engage, respectfully, with cultures different from our own. Laura Apol is one of the most courageous writers I know. Her poems are heavy with the terrible history of genocide, but they are able to carry that weight because of her clarity, her humility and integrity, her poetic grace, and her belief, not easily gained, in the redemptive power of language. I love this book, and I applaud her talent and bravery. She makes me believe in poetry again.—LORNA CROZIER, Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria, and author of The Wrong Cat