Osundare advocates the poetry of performance- performance instructions and musical effects are part of the poems - as at once creative and deeply political. The present collection testifies, wholly convincingly, to the poet's belief that language - the Word - defines personal and social history, expression and identity. 'In the Beginning was not the Word/In the Word was the Beginning', launches the volume and is its constant refrain. Language may sometimes be impotent or illusory - the middle section, 'Silence', reflects upon political censorship, the struggle of illiteracy, and the agonies...

Winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for 1986, Niyi Osundare is one of Nigeria's most prominent younger writers. This first collection of his poetry is the expression of a critical awareness in its exploration of the social situation in contemporary Nigeria. In an introduction, Biodun Jeyifo remarks that his distinctive voice is attributable to the fact that his verses confront both poetry of revolution and a revolution of poetry, in terms of forms and techniques. Thirty-five poems are included.