THE HUMMINGBIRD REVIEW:
A LITERARY ANTHOLOGY (Volume
III/Number 1)
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 this 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
