The Parliament of Idiots

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 recently,Carnival 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.