Enoh Meyomesse (2014). Jail Verse: Poems from Kondengui Prison. UK, English PEN. Paperback, 108 Pages. Price, $11.90. Available on Lulu.com.
In late 2013, English PEN launched a crowd-sourced translation of the volume of poetry Cameroonian activist and poet Enoh Meyomesse has written in prison, in order to raise funds for him and his family, and greater awareness of his case. The full collection Jail Verse: Poems from Kondengui Prison is now available to print-on-demand. As with the ebook version, all proceeds will be used to support Enoh Meyomesse and PEN's ongoing work on behalf of writers at risk around the world.
"I am a supporter of the extremely valuable work that English PEN does to support writers at risk and keep them in the public eye. It’s both an inspiring and an important organisation and I was truly thrilled to have the opportunity to get involved in a small way with their work when they asked for translators of Enoh Meyomesse’s work. I didn’t know anything of his poetry but was moved by its extreme rawness, his words a savage cry into the void, tempered by a profound spiritual hope."
Natasha Lehrer, translator, Jail Verse: Poems from Kondengui Prison
Click here for my review of the the French version of Meyomesse's poetry collection.
Click here for Meyomesse's first person narrative of life at the Kondengui prison.
Details of Meyomesse's case are available on his Facebook page.
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