By Solomon Amabo (Originally published in Eden Newspaper)
The first ever poetry anthology after the death of arguably the most controversial and vocal Cameroonian poet, playwright and scholar, Bate Besong has hit the world shelve. Emails from the Editors; Dr Joyce Ashutantang and Dibussi Tande Esq., to some of the contributors in the literary piece indicated that 27 renowned African poets are amongst the writers in the anthology, which verses the life and works of Dr Jacobs Bate Besong.
The anthology comes just a day before the first anniversary of the burial of one of the most committed dons of our times. Dr Ashutangtang said the collections are snapshots of the mood that prevailed following the death (some cynics believe was an assassination) of Bate Besong on March 8 alongside Dr Hilarious Ambe, Kwasen Gwan’gwa, and their driver Awoh in Edea.
The anthology entitled Their Champaign Party Will End: Poems in Honor of Bate Besong and published by Langa PRCIG, depicts BB who used the venom of his pen and the vigour of his artistic vision to usher in a new kind of nationalist ‘fighting’ literature in Cameroon, which is unapologetic.
The title of the masterpiece is from one of BB’s poems in the collection, The Grain of Bobe Ngom Jua, published in 1987. An extract of the poem found on the back cover of the anthology reads:
“They have sworn fealty to their Masonic lodges and to each other to bankrupt our national coffers.
The curse on the heads of the corrupt banditti. There is evidence that evil strives absolutely. And the only good is a cripple chained to the dungeon and mockery of dust.”
In this poem BB mirror’s the Cameroonian and African society, denouncing looters of state property, and even curses them. The fearless writer and social critic lambastes all what he perceived as mundane and unjust in society. His other works, The Most Cruel Death of the Talkative Zombie, Obasinjom Warrior with Poems after Detention, Requiem for the Last Kaiser, Change Waka and his Man Sawa Boy and his last publication Disgrace, further illustrate his commitment as a visionary artist.
During his academic honours on Wednesday March 21 2007 at Amphitheatre 750 of the University of Buea, the then Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Albert Azeyeh said we should “ cover our heads with ash for I doubt if Cameroon would be able to produce another BB in the next four or five decades.”
The anthology, Their Champagne Party Will end: Poems in Honour of Bate Besong, is not only a feather on the cap of Anglophone Cameroon Literature but also a pointer to the adage, the writer never dies but his spirit leaves on. “ Death is an enemy, but not an enemy to be feared,” Bate Besong said.
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