Bøker av Nii Ayikwei Parkes

In this narrative rooted in soil and spread by whispers, Nii Ayikwei Parkes brings a metaphor of resource-rich countries to vivid life in prose peppered with nods to fairy tales, twentieth century music biographies, and politics headlines, asking the question: what is the price we pay to have a place to call home?

A stunning new collection from Nii Ayikwei Parkes, featuring poems that embrace play, love and the ephemeral such as water bodies, blood/heritage, history, and gossip.

Sonokrom, a village in the Ghanaian hinterland, has not changed for thousands of years. Kayo is a forensic pathologist convinced that scientific logic can shatter even the most inexplicable of mysteries. But as events in the village become incomprehensible, Kayo finds that Western logic and political bureaucracy are no longer equal to the task.

Candid and sensitive, this collection journeys between Africa, Europe, and the Americas as the poet explores his family history. Told with wit and an engaging ambivalence, these narrative poems explore areas of imaginative fantasy, including a consideration of how the slave trade would have been different had its main mode of transportation been the hot-air balloon rather than the slave ship. Touching on both pain and rich rewards from the perspective of a black British poet, this volume's goal is to entertain, instruct, and encourage contemplation.