Call For Submissions |Poems On The Anglophone Problem In Cameroon |Revue Des Citoyens des Lettres
Following the recent civil unrest in the North and South
West Regions of Cameroon, a call has been launched for submission of poems that
explore and examine the Anglophone Problem in Cameroon.
The project will include poets from both French- and
English-speaking parts of the country, on a fifty-fifty basis. The poets should
present their own reading of the Anglophone Problem today, or share their
thoughts on being a Cameroonian citizen in the context of the country’s
colonial experiences and what its people have gone through; from annexation to
the First World War, independence, reunification of the former French and
British Cameroons in 1961, and thereafter.
The project is a call to look back at history, recognise
the loopholes, celebrate the beauty of culture, and map out ways through which
the people can use their multiculturalism and bilingualism as assets to conquer
the world.
It would be recollected that there has been a lot of disharmony
going on in the country of late, and artists and writers are not supposed to
subscribe to silence, because they are the mirrors of the society and culture. Therefore,
they are called upon to respond to cultural crises like the one Cameroon is
currently faced with.
It is a known fact that Cameroon is a cultural melting pot,
taking into consideration its bilingual nature, its welter of local languages,
and its dual colonial and historical heritage; which realities are all supposed
to serve as key assets to catapulting the country onto the world stage as a
cultural and developmental behemoth.
Unfortunately, recent happenings, starting from the November
2016 teachers and lawyers’ strike, which was greeted with massive arrests, an
Internet cut in the North and South West Regions of the country, the killing
and molestation of students and unarmed civilians, the destruction of property,
and the upsurge of dissenting voices on what has been termed the Anglophone
Problem, have put the country’s unity to the test.
Artists and art have done similar thing in the past,
bringing peace to their societies through their works. In similar circumstances
for instance, art and artists rose to the challenge, channeled revolutions,
brought peace, and shaped the destiny of nations; in Jamaica with Bob Marley,
in South Africa with Lucky Dube and Miriam Makeba, in Ireland with Oscar Wilde,
in the classical era with artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Plato, Aristotle,
etc.
If these people succeeded in influencing their societies by
preaching positive change, then present day Cameroonian artists can achieve the
same for their society. It is indeed time to rise to the challenge like other
artists are already doing in other countries. As an example amongst many, we
recently saw artists come together to pay homage to the Manchester bombing
victims. This is where this project, titled: Making the Best out of Cameroon’s
Cultural Salad Bowl, comes in.
The goal of this project is to galvanise the finest
Cameroonian poets of the younger generation, and of both sexes, to project
their voices through these historical curtains and, ultimately, explore
different routes Cameroon can follow to let the dust of division settle.
Guidelines
- Participants should be
Cameroonian, resident in or out of the country.
- The poems should be in English or French.
- Participants should be 18–35 years by
December 2017.
- The poems should be void of vulgar
expressions.
- The poems should not be more than 40
lines.
- Each participant should
send not less than and not more than five poems.
CHANNEL
FOR SUBMISSION
Entries should be sent to revuedescitoyensdeslettres@gmail.com, not later than October 31,
2017.
Comments
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you, share your comment/views. Thanks