A hopeful, music-infused poetry collection from Congolese poet Alain Mabanckou. These compelling poems by novelist and essayist Alain Mabanckou conjure nostalgia for an African childhood where the fauna, flora, sounds, and smells evoke snapshots of a life forever gone. Mabanckou's poetry is frank and forthright, urging his compatriots to no longer be held hostage by the civil wars and political upheavals that have ravaged their country and to embrace a new era of self-determination where the village roosters can sing again. These music-infused texts, beautifully translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, appear together in English for the first time. In these pages, Mabanckou pays tribute to his beloved mother, as well as to the regenerative power of nature, and especially of trees, whose roots are a metaphor for the poet's roots, anchored in the red earth of his birthplace. Mabanckou's yearning for the land of his ancestors is even more poignant because he has been declared persona non grata in his homeland, now called Congo-Brazzaville, due to his biting criticism of the country's regime. Despite these barriers, his poetry exudes hope that nature's resilience will lead humankind on the path to redemption and reconciliation.

About the Author
Alain Mabanckou is one of francophone Africa's most prolific contemporary writers. Twice, he has been a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize. Born in the Republic of Congo, he is now professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Nancy Naomi Carlson is a writer and translator who has published eleven books, most recently An Infusion of Violets, also published by Seagull Books. She is professor of counseling at Walden University.

Reviews
"Alain Mabanckou's As Long as Trees Take Root in the Earth and Other Poems, translated from the French by Nancy Naomi Carlson, is the long-overdue English-language debut of one of the world's most prominent Francophone poets. . . . Nancy Naomi Carlson's sensitive and painstaking translations of this powerful, important writer are a boon to anyone interested in the world of Francophone letters." * The Los Angeles Review *
"Alain Mabanckou a native of the Congo and a longtime professor at UCLA, is one of the world's leading francophone authors. If you're the author of a novel (Verre cassee/Broken Glass) that The Guardian has called one of the best one hundred novels of the century, it may be difficult to be taken as seriously as a poet. And yet Mabanckou has also been publishing books of poems since 1993 . The present edition includes two of his most recent volumes, the first and only translation of any complete poetry books to be published in English. I, for one, am grateful, and I imagine others will be also." * World Literature Today *



Book Information
ISBN 9780857428776
Author Alain Mabanckou
Format Hardback
Page Count 124
Imprint Seagull Books London Ltd
Publisher Seagull Books London Ltd