The
Blue Marble visage of the globe with the African continent at its centre as
portrayed on the cover of the latest edition of the Hummingbird Review serves
as a statement of intent.
The
Review, which according to publisher Charles Redner, is committed to “portraying
the beauty and challenges of life through literature and art” as well as
promoting “cross cultural writing in all forms” is indeed a smorgasboard of
literary modes and devices; providing a forum for both established as well as
neophyte figures.
Here, poetry is presented alongside journalism as are lyrics and screenplays with the
theme of this edition being largely to do with Africa. Redner’s thoughtful preface
is headlined in the Shona language of southern Africa and, true to its stated
intent, the content spans different regions of the continent.
The
inaugural piece features an interview with Noam Chomsky conducted by Said Leghlid,
a Moroccan-born American, in which the venerable intellectual voices his characteristically
insightful and vehement analysis of United States foreign policy, this time in
regard to the Arab Spring which of course started in North Africa.
Among
the poetical selections is The Cloud,
an 1835 work by Alexandre Pushkin, the acknowledged father of Russian
Literature who was the descendant of Abram Gannibal, a general of the Russian
Empire who may have been of Eritrean ancestry or with roots further west in
modern day Cameroon.
Among
the eye catching works are The Berber
Stone and the Cherokee Enigma, an essay which postulates the migratory
connections between North Africa and the Americas via oral histories handed
down through the mists of time, linguistic similarities, archaeological
discoveries, and even DNA traits.
Also
of interest, from this writer’s perspective, is an excerpt from a biographical screenplay
on the heavyweight boxer George Foreman. It is centred on the profound transformation
in the life philosophy of Foreman; the roots of which germinated from his experiences
related to the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, the legendary heavyweight championship
contest he had in 1974 with Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, the capital city of what
was then Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Another
highlight of this edition of the review is a rationale of and an example of contextual
poetry by the genre’s proselytiser-in-chief, Dr. Thea Iberall, poet and
scientist. Contextual poetry aims to “integrate the knowledge of science and
history with the language of poetry.”
If
the purpose of literature is to stimulate thought, to provoke debate, to evoke
joy and pathos, to educate, and to develop the inherent human thirst for a personal
understanding of the stirrings of the inner mind as well as the wider world,
then the Review strives to provide some measure of each.
This
journal genuinely serves as food for the cerebral palate.
Adeyinka Makinde is the author of the
biographies: DICK TIGER: The Life and Times
of a Boxing Immortal and JERSEY BOY: The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula. Website:http://adeyinkamakinde.homestead.com/index.html