Because he was a radical poet, Jack Mapanje was imprisoned without trial or charge by the dictator Hastings Banda of Malawi for nearly four years. The themes of his poetry range from the search for a sense of dignity and integrity under a repressive regime, incarceration, release from prison, exile and return to Africa.

With new struggles ever more evident in Africa today. Jack Mapanje has returned to his concern for ordinary people in Africa and in the world at large, themes that make his poetry inspirational in Malawi and throughout Africa. These new poems are boldly lyrical narratives, cunningly crafted in mesmerizing spirals. His voice is still ironically cheerful, his tone impotently angry--but confidently measured with wit and humor, however bleak. Jack Mapanje was imprisoned without trial by the dictator Hastings Banda for nearly four years, and chronicled his experiences in his poetry. This new...