A Survey of African Poetry in the London Times, Sunday Times, Financial Times, the Times Literary Supplement 1865-1985

The Song Atlas is an ambitiously compiled anthology, painstakingly edited by John Gallas. The book sets out to embrace alphabetically samples of verse from countries as far ranging as Afghanistan and Zimbabwe (the editor has been unable to find a nation beginning with X). In these days of superfluous poetic gallimaufries, this is a gatherum which at least seems to have some purpose. It consists of piece which Gallas acknowledges to have been found and translated by a multitude of hands. The quality (and, indeed, the comprehensibility) of these poems is variable, but that is to be expected, given the cultural divergence involved... And from Uganda, Gallas proffers a similarly minimalist thought-provoking oddity by Okot p'Bitek (1931-82): "Where's / the Eyeshop? / When will I ever see Ms Right? / I ogle her with anger." ...