New Publication: To the Budding Creative Writer: A Handbook

Jua, Roselyne M., and Bate Besong. 2009. To the budding creative writer: a handbook. Mankon: Langaa Research & Publishing CIG. ISBN 9789956558933 | 140 pages | Langaa RPCIG, Cameroon | Paperback. Available from amazon.com

To the Budding Creative Writer: A Handbook is designed to help young writers come to grips with questions and problems relative to their creative efforts. The authors discuss a range of topics, providing guidelines on such issues as style, technique, point of view, characterization, poetic diction, figurative language, denotation and connotation, etc. They equally offer useful critical comments on some of the works of accomplished African writers whom they cite as models for beginning writers, fusing literary creativity with literary criticism. All along the co-authors stress the centrality, in imaginative writing, of both the 'what' and the 'how' or matter and manner, and how to combine both to good effect.

Reviews

“Reading this handbook, practising writers will gain in confidence as they rationalize their craft, while beginning writers will learn a great deal, from the useful tips, to write better. The book contains, among other things, a beautiful foreword. Two enlightening essays on the responsibility of the writer in society and an excellent one on the teachability of creative writing conclude the text. A rare category in African literature, this important handbook will be useful not only to writers but to both students and teachers of African literature.”

Shadrach A. Ambanasom, Associate Professor of Literature, University of Yaoundé I (ENS Bambili), Cameroon

“This is a significant contribution that will benefit young writers striving towards creativity; it will help them to begin understanding this sometimes elusive and equally challenging process. The authors have done a remarkable job appraising the works of select authors in different genres in an effort to buttress their goal of demystifying the creative process to young writers.”

Emmanuel Fru Doh, Century College, Minnesota, USA

About the Authors

Bate Besong

Bate Besong taught African and English Literature at the University of Buea before his untimely death in March 2007. Dramaturg and poet, he authored several plays, including Requiem for the Last Kaiser and The Banquet. Among his collections of poetry are The Grains of Bobe Ngom Jua and Disgrace.

Roselyne M. Jua

Roselyne M. Jua holds a BA (Hons) from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, a PhD from SUNY at Buffalo, New York. She teaches English and American Literature at the University of Buea, Cameroon. Her research interests are eclectic and recent essays have appeared in The Journal of Black Studies and The International Journal of Humanistic Studies. She is co-editor of Emerging Perspectives I: Anglophone Cameroon Drama and Theatre (forthcoming), and with Bate Besong, of To the Aspiring Writer: A Handbook. Her first book of poems is entitled In My Father’s House (forthcoming). She is a member of WEEN, a women’s empowerment enterprise in Cameroon.