Silence Would Be Treason: Last Writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Íde Corely, Helen Fallon, Laurence Cox

Daraja Press, Jan 10, 2018 - Literary Collections - 222 pages

THESE LETTERS AND poems are invaluable fragments of a living conversation that portrays the indomitable power in humans to stay alive in the face of certain death. Reading through the treasure trove of the letters and poems compiled here as The Last Writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa evoked such intense memories of his resolute struggles against an oil behemoth and a deaf autocratic government. His crusade frames one of the most tumultuous periods of Nigeria's history; his tragic story evokes anger and demands action to resolve the crises that first led the Ogoni people to demand that Shell clean up Ogoni or clear out of the territory. It was his leadership, in great part, that forced Shell out of Ogoni in January 1993. The letters are a testament of hope. Being one side of robust conversa­tions between two persons that many would find unlikely as close friends, we learn the lessons that indeed 'friends love at all times and brothers (and sisters) are born for adversity', as a proverb in the Bible states. This is where we must applaud Sister Majella McCarron for preserving and making pub­lic these letters that Ken Saro-Wiwa wrote to her between 20 October 1993 and 14 September 1995. The collection includes essays by the three editors, select bibliography and recommended resources.

About the author

Íde Corley is a Lecturer in English at Maynooth University where she directs MA programmes in Postcolonial and World Literatures and in Irish Literature and Culture. Her research focuses primarily on twentieth-century literary engagements with the politics of black unity associated with tri-continental Pan-African nationalism, African socialism and modern African identity. She was the Principal Convenor of an ESF-funded workshop entitled "Multiple Modernities of Same-Sex Sexuality in Nigeria" in 2010 and has published articles and reviews in Modern Language Studies, Interventions and Journal of Postcolonial Writing. Helen Fallon is Deputy University Librarian at Maynooth University. She has worked in libraries in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Namibia and Saudi Arabia. Her professional interests include libraries in developing countries, African women writers, staff develop-ment, academic publishing, creativity, and the leadership and marketing of academic libraries. She has published extensively and runs workshops on academic publishing and maintains a blog for library staff who wish to write for publication at http: //academicwritinglibrarian.blogspot.ie/ Laurence Cox co-directs the MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism at Maynooth University. He is cofounder of the international, open-access social movement journal Interface, co-editor of Understanding European Movements: New Social Movements, Global justice Struggles, Anti- Austerity Protest, Marxism and social Movements and author of Buddhism and Ireland. He is currently part of an international team researching the life of U Dhammaloka, an Irish migrant worker who became a Buddhist monk and anti-colonial activist in early 20th Century Burma. Dr Cox has been involved in a wide range of social movements in several countries for over quarter of a century.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Silence Would Be Treason: Last Writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa
• Editors: Íde Corely, Helen Fallon, Laurence Cox
• Edition: 2, illustrated
• Publisher: Daraja Press, 2018
• ISBN: 1988832241, 9781988832241
• Length: 222 pages
• Subjects: Literary Collections / Letters; Poetry / African; Political Science / Public Policy / Environmental Policy; Science / Global Warming & Climate Change