The book ddresses the traumatic effects of war, warfare and civil unrest especially in Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East on a young American couple. Many poems specifically describe the situation in Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Kuwait.
Half of the poems describe the plight of a soldier during war reminiscing about his fiancée, family, home and country. There's monologue and dialogue between him and her as they send romantic messages to and read from each other. The second half deals with the persona's outlandish attitude toward war in general. He criticizes the institutions and ideologies that promote war, anguish, mayhem and bloodshed while celebrating the virtues of humanity and peace--love of country, goodness through filial and erotic love and the power of sanity (war-free mentality).
The manuscript is structured in six parts, like a dramatic production. Scene I (Hannah and Bill) a dialogue between the lovers, Bill in Iraq and Hannah at home. In Scene II captioned Hannah’s Time Alone, the lover is in solitude meditating, wondering about the condition of her lover, Bill. Scene III (Bill’s Time Alone) addresses Bill’s perception of war, America’s role in the war, his condition as a soldier and Bill expresses his anger against the war. In Scene IV captioned Palestinian-Israeli Olympics, the persona presents ‘controversial’ views about the decades-old conflict in the region. Scene V (Desert Storms) contains a handful of poems about the Gulf War and an American soldier’s moods. In Scene VI titled World Games, the personae reminisce about other wars around the world.
Some are anecdotes. The average length of each poem is ten lines. The tone is harsh and often sarcastically somber, creating a sense of urgency.
Excerpt
"Whatever you do, do it well for its content and consequence complement its cause"
"Infants, boys, girls, mothers,grandparents falling around like flies sprayed with Roach Bomb". p 161
Professional Reviews
Press Release
Plain View Press is pleased to announce the publication of Theaters
of War. In this collection of poems Emmanuel Ngwainmbi brings together
the reality of violence and its impact people’s hearts and lives in Iraq, in
Africa and around the world.
Theaters of War should be read aloud in juxtaposition to the blare
of world news broadcasts, to appreciate Dr. Ngwainmbi’s grasp and
illustration of the ironies of our daily acceptance and condoning of hostile
tribalization of modern mankind. The book is a treasure and must be
appreciated as a mirror of our times. (Hank Daidone, Lt. Colonel of US
Army, Retired)
Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi’s verse is crisp yet full of imagistic details.
His rhythmic pulse, enforced by love and war and a yearning for peace,
and his fragmented references and repetitions have shock value, as well
as delicious intellectual content. The mixture of these elements is powerful and appealing. (Dr. Leonard A.
Slade, Jr., State University of New York at Albany)
In an era when war for many in America presents itself as a rolling screen of names at the end of the
nightly news, a voice speaks out strong and clear. Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi’s anti-war feelings include
expressions of goodness — the virtues of life and love. He superbly contrasts every day life with war-like
descriptions, thoughts and feelings to unmask war’s absurdity. His use of the commonplace makes every war,
our war. The life he creates is so real — so ours — it is worth protecting. . . .the reader can’t help but see the
hypocrisy in killing for peace’s sake. (Mary-Ellen Riddle, The Virginia Pilot)
Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi brings us inside the fear, the sweat, the darkness, the breath, the heart and
spirit of the warrior. In love, war, and peace these poems teach us how the heart is taught to aim, fire,
surrender. (Jaki Shelton Green, Recipient of the 2003 NC Award in Literature and author of Dead on Arrival)
For those of you who experienced his last book, Whispers on my pillow and other poems, you’re in for a
powerful, endearing journey via the poetic route taken by Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi. (Timothy F. Crowley,
Poet/Editor/ www.writersforpeace.org)
Emmanuel Ngwainmbi is in love and he lets it flow throughout his poems, which yank us out of our
reading chair and into the horrors of war, quiet contemplation of nature, and the human yearning for
connection in desperate times.
(Doug Stuber, Editor, Katherine James Books)
A Poet's Passion
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A poet's passion
By ROBERT KELLY-GOSS
Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Poetry is drawn from observation, experience and passion. For Emmanuel Ngwainmbi, a third published collection of poetry draws on all three, zeroing in on the world around him, asking the rhetorical question: "Why in the 21st century should we be engaging in war?"
Perhaps the answer to that question will be found in Ngwainmbi's recent book "Theaters of War."
"The world," he says, "should have something else to worry about. It should have something else on its agenda."
That something else could be the eradication of hunger, the pursuit of peace or perhaps education. Education is near and dear to Ngwainmbi's heart. The son of an educator in Cameroon, Africa, Ngwainmbi is a professor and director of the International Program at Elizabeth City State University.
Growing up in Cameroon, Ngwainmbi says education was always emphasized. Learning, he says, was viewed as the key to future success. His father was so insistent that children go to school, Ngwainmbi says when he retired from his post as superintendent of schools in their village, his father would help children whose parents could not afford to pay for school. He would, Ngwainmbi reflects, pay for their tuition.
"My father, at his funeral, there were testimonies by parents about this man, who upon seeing a child who was not in school, would ask the child why and when he heard that the parents didn't have the money he would take care of it," says Ngwainmbi.
That's why a portion of the proceeds from the sale of "Theaters" will go toward helping send children to school in his village in Cameroon. Another portion will go toward a scholarship for area high school students.
So Ngwainmbi's passion for education runs deep. It runs deep because he has such a passion for human relations. He sees education as part of a balance that can help bring a splintered world together. He also understands firsthand what it is to see a student grow through education.
"When my students reach out and hug me in the grocery store and say 'you made me enjoy studying and reading,' ... those are the reasons I enjoy being here," he says.
So it is from that outlook that Ngwainmbi crafts his prose. It is prose worthy of reading. It does not deserve to go unread, such is the fate of poetry any more.
It should be read because Ngwainmbi has something to say. And he says it with the master's hand, crafting language, subtly painting a picture that is not only about war as in the battlefields, but life and culture and anything in between that makes up this world. After all, some have said that a poet's challenge is to make sense of the world around him.
But war is the theme so Ngwainmbi does craft prose about Chechnya or Darfur, Sudan where genocide is a way life now. In fact, Chechnya is a recurring theme for the poet. In his last book the former Soviet state was highlighted because, he says, it is highlighted in the news for all the wrong reasons. Reasons, he says, he would like to change.
The wrong reasons are war and strife. And it's not that we should not be made aware of the troubling state of places such as Chechnya, rather Ngwainmbi would like to see the end of war, allowing humanity to champion other aspects of human suffering.
"Chechnya has been on the news a lot and a small country like that, to be on the news for the wrong reasons, the world's attention needs to be turned not only to that part of the world but to the cause of war," says Ngwainmbi.
So Ngwainmbi wants peace in the world. Oh, he says he understands the need to defend your country — he is proudly an American citizen now — but he also wants people to realize that war is the last resort. Diplomacy, communication and dialogue must happen in order to see humanity reach a higher level of understanding one another, benefiting the whole of the planet, he says.
These are the musings of a poet, an idealist with what may be the right ideals. These and the little things that make up life are viewed through Ngwainmbi's latest collection of poetry. He will read selected poems from his latest volume Thursday night at Page After Page Bookstore in downtown Elizabeth City. The reading will happen 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.
A poet's passion
By ROBERT KELLY-GOSS
Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Poetry is drawn from observation, experience and passion. For Emmanuel Ngwainmbi, a third published collection of poetry draws on all three, zeroing in on the world around him, asking the rhetorical question: "Why in the 21st century should we be engaging in war?"
Perhaps the answer to that question will be found in Ngwainmbi's recent book "Theaters of War."
"The world," he says, "should have something else to worry about. It should have something else on its agenda."
That something else could be the eradication of hunger, the pursuit of peace or perhaps education. Education is near and dear to Ngwainmbi's heart. The son of an educator in Cameroon, Africa, Ngwainmbi is a professor and director of the International Program at Elizabeth City State University.
Growing up in Cameroon, Ngwainmbi says education was always emphasized. Learning, he says, was viewed as the key to future success. His father was so insistent that children go to school, Ngwainmbi says when he retired from his post as superintendent of schools in their village, his father would help children whose parents could not afford to pay for school. He would, Ngwainmbi reflects, pay for their tuition.
"My father, at his funeral, there were testimonies by parents about this man, who upon seeing a child who was not in school, would ask the child why and when he heard that the parents didn't have the money he would take care of it," says Ngwainmbi.
That's why a portion of the proceeds from the sale of "Theaters" will go toward helping send children to school in his village in Cameroon. Another portion will go toward a scholarship for area high school students.
So Ngwainmbi's passion for education runs deep. It runs deep because he has such a passion for human relations. He sees education as part of a balance that can help bring a splintered world together. He also understands firsthand what it is to see a student grow through education.
"When my students reach out and hug me in the grocery store and say 'you made me enjoy studying and reading,' ... those are the reasons I enjoy being here," he says.
So it is from that outlook that Ngwainmbi crafts his prose. It is prose worthy of reading. It does not deserve to go unread, such is the fate of poetry any more.
It should be read because Ngwainmbi has something to say. And he says it with the master's hand, crafting language, subtly painting a picture that is not only about war as in the battlefields, but life and culture and anything in between that makes up this world. After all, some have said that a poet's challenge is to make sense of the world around him.
But war is the theme so Ngwainmbi does craft prose about Chechnya or Darfur, Sudan where genocide is a way life now. In fact, Chechnya is a recurring theme for the poet. In his last book the former Soviet state was highlighted because, he says, it is highlighted in the news for all the wrong reasons. Reasons, he says, he would like to change.
The wrong reasons are war and strife. And it's not that we should not be made aware of the troubling state of places such as Chechnya, rather Ngwainmbi would like to see the end of war, allowing humanity to champion other aspects of human suffering.
"Chechnya has been on the news a lot and a small country like that, to be on the news for the wrong reasons, the world's attention needs to be turned not only to that part of the world but to the cause of war," says Ngwainmbi.
So Ngwainmbi wants peace in the world. Oh, he says he understands the need to defend your country — he is proudly an American citizen now — but he also wants people to realize that war is the last resort. Diplomacy, communication and dialogue must happen in order to see humanity reach a higher level of understanding one another, benefiting the whole of the planet, he says.
These are the musings of a poet, an idealist with what may be the right ideals. These and the little things that make up life are viewed through Ngwainmbi's latest collection of poetry. He will read selected poems from his latest volume Thursday night at Page After Page Bookstore in downtown Elizabeth City. The reading will happen 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.
“The woman or man who is a poet, or fiction writer, or playwright, or all of these, is engaged constantly in a jazz ballet of vocabularies, passions, genders, histories, perspectives, death, love, and life. The music of revelation announces itself to
