The "Hundred Days" from April to July 1994 witnessed one of the great genocides of the twentieth century and all while the world looked on and did nothing. But in a wider context it was a reflection on all of us and perhaps on even life itself, though the poet reminds us that animals don't slaughter each other at least not in that sense. The Rawanda conflict had its roots in tribal difference and colonial exploitation and the echoes of another holocaust that would provide no refuge for those who were caught in its midst and all of it against a background of incredible beauty.
The poetry of Juliane Okot Bitek takes you through its villages and churches and lost innocence, relationships where time was measured out in machete strokes and words that made light of indifference and nothing to tie it to but days and the chattering of birds and bayonet sticks and the awful brutality of it all. There are no epiphanies here, no wise men to make sense of it, no Christian sacrifice or saviours, only the memories and a poet who wrote them out for one hundred days lest we forget.
Published by The University of Alberta Press it is available from all good booksellers or direct from Gazelle Book Services at 0044 (0) 1524 68765
Price: £15.50/ ISBN 978-1-77212-121-6
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