Beasts of Nalunga

With new struggles ever more evident in Africa today, Jack Mapanje has returned to his concern for ordinary people in Africa and in the world at large, themes that make his poetry inspirational in Malawi and throughout Africa. These new poems are boldly lyrical narratives, cunningly crafted in mesmerizing spirals. His voice is still ironically cheerful, his tone impotently angry-but confidently measured with wit and humor, however bleak. Jack Mapanje was imprisoned without trial by the dictator Hastings Banda for nearly four years, and chronicled his experiences in his poetry. This collection addresses the soul struggling to liberate itself, and fighting against the beasts of silences that threaten the lives of Africans everyday.