Crackle at Midnight

by Lupenga Mphande

Exile is the key to these poems. The poet, one of the acclaimed major Malawian poets, is widely published and currently an academic in the USA. This new collection of poems is an expression of memories of home recollected in exile. Through the mediation of a reflective yet detached tone, rich nature imagery and a composed narrative pace, he describes the lustrous environment of his homeland, and also its inequities and social injustices. He borrows freely from the African oral tradition of praise poetry.

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Reviews

"The development of the poetic vision in Mphande's collection is intriguing...": Voices

"The poems relate to concrete experiences. They are simple but wittily expressed. With Crackle at Midnight, Mphande has enriched not only the national poetry of Malawi, but also African and contemporary world poetry. This collection will interest every kind of poetry reader.": World Literature Today