stumbling across the savannah...

People love lions. Or so it seems.

Of the folks who have eventually found their way to this site, 17 of them have been searching for "lion" or some search string that included the word in it. That's as many visits -- seventeen -- as have been accounted for by the search string "african poetry".

Now, one could discuss the broader implications, the raw and mistaken equation of Africa with its wildlife, blah blah blah, but that would be a bit beside the point. And off point. They come in search of lions, they find Achebe instead.

It must be a disappointment. I wish one of those seventeen would read (or watch & listen to some of the performances) and be intrigued. But most if not all will just be disappointed by another Google dead-end.

People sure do love lions.

a review of taban lo liyong's translation of p'bitek's seminal "song of lawino"

Well, a couple reviews truth be told.

I just had a review of The Defence of Lawino -- Taban lo Liyong's translation of Okot p'Bitek's Song of Lawino -- published in Research in African Literatures (vol 39 no 2 summer 2008: 156-8). If you read my review you'll see that I'm not a big fan.

A little more ambiguous is Simon Lewis's review published by the H-Net List for African Literature and Cinema. Referring to lo Liyong's translation as "illuminating" is, to me, a little like praising a book as important: it doesn't necessarily suggest that the book is worth reading.

My suggestion is to read p'Bitek's Song unless you're writing a seminar paper. Then read them both.

Faint praise indeed.