African novelists, playwrights and poets, even when they are writing in one of the colonial languages, draw on their rich ethnic bases. These resources provide ideas, themes and linguistic delight. The myriad languages of the continent, although used today mainly for workday communication, have through the centuries been vehicles for the oral artistic verbal compositions and transmission now formalized as orature'.

Content:
"Myth & Modernity: African Writers & their Roots" by E.D. Jones (Editorial article)
"Yearning for Utopia: Orality versus Literacy in Mazisi Kunene's Emperor Shaka the Great" by W. Ogundele
"Oral Traditions & Modern African Poetry: Okot p'Bitek's Song of Lawino and Okibo's Labyrinths" by C.A. Bodunde
"Kofi Awoonor as a Poet" by I.I. Eliminian
"Niyi Osundare's Poetry & the Yoruba Oral Artistic Tradition" by A. Bamikunie
"Plot & Conflict in African Folktales" by S. Ukala
"Oral Echoes in Armah;s Short Stories" by O.S. Ogede
"Two Thousand Seasons: A Dissent" by D. Wright
"The Folk Roots of Flora Nwapa's Early Novels" by C. Ikonne
"Oral Literature & Modern Nigerian Drama: The Example of Femi Osofisan" by M.P. Awodiya
"French Language African Drama & the Oral Tradition: Trends & Issues" by J. Conteh-Morgan
Index

ABOUT THE EDITOR
ELDRED DUROSIMI JONES & MARJORIE JONES were both editors of Africa Literature Today from 1968 to 2001.

CATEGORY
Literature, Cultural Studies/AFRICA