A Basket of Flaming Ashes

Joyce Ash

Dr. Joyce Ash is a poet, actress, creative writer and Associate Professor of English at the University of Hartford, Connecticut. She has appeared as an invited poet in many countries around the world, including England, Germany, Nicaragua, Greece, Costa Rica, Colombia, Bangladesh, Cameroon and USA. Her first book of poetry, A Basket of Flaming Ashes, was published to great acclaim. She has also contributed to several international anthologies of poetry, including Dhaka Anthology of World Poetry, Reflections: An Anthology of New Work by African Women Poets, We Have Crossed Many Rivers: New Poetry from Africa and World Poetry Almanac 2011. A graduate of schools on three continents, Dr. Ash received a B.A in English with a minor in Theater Arts from the University of Yaoundé Cameroon; a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Aberystwyth, UK; and a PhD in English/African Literature from the City University of New York. Her poems have been translated into Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish and Bengali (Bangla).

4 comments

Chinyere G. Okafor, Professor of English and Women’s Studies, Wichita State University, Kansas May 25, 2018 - 11:36 am

“Ashuntantang is an extraordinary weaver of words who showcases vivid pictures that compete with 3D simulation. Her greatest asset is her use of the beautiful traditional Cameroonian anchor that evokes folk tales with its moonlight romance and glory. You feel, laugh, weep, shiver, wonder, and hail the triumphant spirit of the persona as it navigates African post-colonial and global experiences with the melancholy of an exile who is purposeful, strategic, and a lot of fun.”

Chinyere G. Okafor, Professor of English and Women’s Studies, Wichita State University, Kansas

Tanure Ojaide, Frank Porter Graham Professor of Africana Studies, University of North Carolina May 25, 2018 - 11:37 am

“A Basket of Flaming Ashes may be Joyce Ashuntantang’s debut poetry collection but it already displays the lyricism and craftsmanship of an experienced poet. The poems flow naturally with feminine elegance and course through myriad forms of love. These are poems that the reader will always go back to read because of their enduring freshness and evocation of experiences that one can easily identify with. I find the collection enthralling.”

Tanure Ojaide, Frank Porter Graham Professor of Africana Studies, University of North Carolina

Mary Fister, Associate Professor of English/Creative Writing, University of Hartford, Connecticut. May 25, 2018 - 11:37 am

“Phoenix-like, Joyce Ashuntantang’s poems in A Basket of Flaming Ashes rise up again and again as an affirmation of the suffering, the song, the celebration, and the beauty, of forging a place for the self in two worlds: Cameroon and America. The confluence of voices, in particular, makes that affirmation resonant and powerful.”

Mary Fister, Associate Professor of English/Creative Writing, University of Hartford, Connecticut.

Frank M. Chipasula, Professor of Africana Studies, Southern Illinois University May 25, 2018 - 11:37 am

“Playful, sassy, seductive, and suggestive, these poems are Joyce Ashuntantang’s “yes” to life in the midst of losses voiced through multiple and varied speakers who crave connection through nurturing words, shared loaves of laughter, fecundating voices, fire from touching tongues… Her acute cinematic sense, keen eye and sharp ear allow her to render vividly the colors, scents, sounds and the flow of life not only of her native Cameroon but also her adopted homelands.”

Frank M. Chipasula, Professor of Africana Studies, Southern Illinois University

ISBN	9789956616565
Pages	78
Dimensions	203mm x 127mm
Published	2010
Publisher	Langaa RPCIG, Cameroon
Format	Paperback

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