The Parliament of Idiots. Tryst Of

A new collection from Tayo Olafioye the prize winning poet novelist and scholar active in Nigeria and the United States. Olafioye is the author of nine collections of poetry including recentlyCarnival of Looters (Kraft Books 2000) critical works and his semi- fictional autobiography Grandma's Sun. A Childhood Memory from Africa (Kraft Books 2000). The themes in this collection include home-grown postcolonial political tyranny the masquerades of contemporary Nigerian governance its disregard for the welfare of the state and the subsequent impact on the individual. In the words of the author: 'its constituency of offenders and those who by tacit or explicit commission participate in this particular scandal...' The title poem declares: 'There is no dawn yet For our city of nights There is no sun yet For our harmattan skies There is no hope yet For our wounded hearts.' Some other themes explored in the poems are dying disease family reunions nostalgia and the poet's migrations between his roots in Nigeria and adopted home in the States. Es'kia Mphahlele Professor Emeritus of African Literature in South Africa contributes an introduction to Olafioye's work.