This collection of verse contains poems from Malawi's foremost writer, most of which were written in the 1970s. Poet, fiction writer, playwright, and children's author Steve Bernard Miles Chimombo was born in Zomba, Malawi, and educated at the University of Malawi, the University of Wales, the University of Leeds, and Columbia University. Mythology and oral culture inform his poetry, and he frequently used both modernist techniques and wry humor to address political themes.

Napolo, the mythical serpent that lives under mountains and is associated with landslides, earthquakes, and floods in Malawi, inspired the poems in this collection. Napolo lives on and still has an impact on Malawians today, as evidenced by a recent reggae hit about the great Python. Napolo also lives on in the poems of Steve Chimombo.

In the novel, the protagonist Chilungamo Nkhoma, an investigative reporter, embarks on learning how the ship was grounded. But instead, he discovers that there are peoples and institutions with vested interests in concealing the truth. They will take great pains to do so and Nkhoma, his family and friends find themselves targets for hit squads. As Nkhoma retraces the original voyage of the ship, his mission assumes ethnic, trans-national and racial dimensions. His seemingly simple assignment grows into a process which resembles a national truth commission. Events culminate in a mass rally of the major political parties on the shore of the lake.

This anthology represents some of the best African poetry written in English in the last 30 years. The poets include Wole Soyinka, Dennis Brutus, Kojo Laing, Chenjerai Hove and Gabriel Gbadamosi.

Here is poetry that is personal yet spreading to have its tentacles struggling to grip into other equally slippery facets of life. In brief, Beaton writes his poetry to assuage his personal feelings yet in so doing he ends up massaging our shared experience - as Malawians, Africans and just as humans. Beaton has observed, learnt, and is growing in the Malawian poetry space. Thus, he also comes to the stage bearing the Malawian influence on his poetry.

Offers a selection of African poetry arranged by country