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In this English translation of Hammer Blows, the famous collection of poems by renowned writer David Diop is presented in all its brilliance and wit.First published in 1956, this powerful collection of poems by David Diop was written during the height of the Negritude movement in France. Posthumously translated into English as
Hammer Blows, Diop's voice offers a passionate critique on slavery in the American South and colonialism in Africa.
Edited and translated from the French by Simon Mpondo and Frank Jones.
'A vigorous use of diction that cuts like a whip, an impassioned and total commitment to the oppressed.'
John F. Povey
About the author
David Mandessi Diop was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1927.
He was educated at the Lycée Marcelin Berthelot in Paris and spent most of his childhood in France. At the age of 15, his poems began appearing in the literary journal
Présence Africaine, with a collection of his poetry,
Coups de pilon being published in 1956. The collection was later posthumously translated into English as
Hammer Blows. Diop died in 1960.
Edited and translated from the French by
Simon Mpondo and
Frank Jones.
Simon Mpondo was a Cameroonian poet, translator, teacher, and an active figure in the Negritude movement alongside J.P. Clark. In 1971, he wrote a book about the movement,
From Independence to Freedom: A Study of the Political Thinking of Negro-African Writers in the 1960's. His poetry has also been included in anthologies including the Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry (1963).
Frank Jones was one of the most prolific translators of francophone African literature and the winner of the National Book Awards 1971 for his translation of
Saint Joan of the Stockyards by Bertoit Brecht.
Summary
In this English translation of Hammer Blows, the famous collection of poems by renowned writer David Diop is presented in all its brilliance and wit.
First published in 1956, this powerful collection was written during the height of the Negritude movement in France. Posthumously translated into English as Hammer Blows, Diop's voice offers a passionate critique of slavery in the American South and colonialism in Africa.
Edited and translated from the French by Simon Mpondo and Frank Jones.
'A vigorous use of diction that cuts like a whip, an impassioned and total commitment to the oppressed.' John F. Povey
Foreword
In this English translation of Hammer Blows, the famous collection of poems by renowned writer David Diop is presented in all its brilliance and wit.
Additional text
A vigorous use of diction that cuts like a whip, an impassioned and total commitment to the oppressed.
