Description
When the Sun Turns Red is a cry from the heart of women residing in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon who have borne the physical and psychological pains of war. The poems in this volume express the women’s pain, their fortitude, hope, and call to an end of the armed conflict. The collection not only expresses women’s positionality as victims, but also as advocates of peace. In the once beloved land of perpetual sunlight, women cry out as the sun turns red. With over 50 poems authored by more than 30 poets, seasoned and emerging, young and old, the volume is a testimony of collective pain that captures the violence of this moment in their history.
Praise for “When the Sun turns Red”
The collection is delivered in a raw heart-wrenching cry as only women of that desolate stretch of hills, mountains, deep valleys and fast flowing streams, poisonous volcanic lakes, and rich arable soils, can produce. The authors have focused on the pain of Anglophone women resulting from the cruelty of an unnecessary war wrecking the lives of everyone in its path.
– Yaah Maggie Kilo, PhD, Retired Educator/State Fragility Expert & International Development Specialist, African Development Bank Group
Contributors to this selection of Anglophone Cameroon female writers’ collection surely believe that “tears” hold a special kind of power to cleanse the mind, reconnect the head to the heart and realign one with the power of one’s soul! Tears are human, but women’s tears can be so therapeutic in the face of despair. What is now popularly referred to as the Anglophone crisis is going beyond despair, as the sun is turning red. Lines such as – “Our dignity/Has become our pain,” “I cry for my land once beautiful/Now in shambles” “Please give us the chance to live in peace/Show some respect for humanity and stop the violence,” echo a potent poetic voice which show that the authors have reached a point in the evolution of the crisis where they understand the pain and the challenges; and their attitude is one of standing up with open arms to meet them all. Like Alice Walker, here is poetry that is “…the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness.” Rhetorical questions and myriad sensory devices enrich the style, offering an unputdownable reading experience! Let’s go!
– Peter Suh-Nfor TANGYIE, President, Anglophone Cameroon Writers Association (ACWA), NW Chapter
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