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Billawer joins the elite circle of poets with his debut anthology

The anthology of English and Otjiherero poems by Hungiree Billawer is the first step in a creative career that will hopefully still produce many more such African fruits.
Titled “In dialogue with Afrika” and authored by Hungiree Wilson Billawer, this recently published work offers 102 poems written mainly in two languages, English and Otjiherero. There is also one poem that has been translated into the French and Afrikaans languages.

Although most of the poems are unique in the language that they have been written, there are at least four of them that exist in both the English and Otjiherero languages. This collection has been written over the years from the mid-1990s up to the present. The publication and printing of this book anthology been made possible through a generous grant by the National Arts Council of Namibia. The English editing, cover design and layout has been done by Wordweaver Publishing House. The collection touches on various issues ranging from love, war, peace, socio-economic conditions, urban planning, freedom, art, culture, tradition, history and the future of the African continent. “ In almost all the poems I find myself in a conversing mode with either the African people or the mother continent itself.  This is no surprise that I ended up with a seemingly suitable title for this collection, namely “In dialogue with Afrika” said the poet adding that some of the poems pose questions that will prickle the mind of the reader to start thinking of the harsh conditions on the African continent and to start thinking of possible solutions. “Others are proposing possible behavioural patterns that can be adopted if we want to improve the image of the continent.”  There are also other poems that are purely humoristic and just there to entertain, in line with the African tradition of Ubuntu. Billawer was born in Otjiwarongo and grew up in Tsumeb. Today he works for the City of Windhoek as a Town Planner. T The book is available at The Book Den in Windhoek, or can be ordered directly from the author at [email protected].

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