Lullaby
Gladys Casely-Hayford
13 lines · the words follow the voice
The Crisis, March 1929
Pen to page, age to age
Long before print, the lion mountains had their voices: griots, storytellers, singers by the fire. They never went quiet. From Freetown's newspapers in 1888 to something written this week, they are roaring still, in poems, novels, stories and plays.
line by line
Hear it, read it
Press play, close your eyes.
0:00 / 1:33
Gladys Casely-Hayford
13 lines · the words follow the voice
The Crisis, March 1929
Before Freetown's newspapers, we were writing our languages, in Arabic letters and in Kikakui, a script of our own. See how →
Each writer has a page with their work and books. Some pages list only the books for now: we print a writer's words once they or their family say yes. Is that you? Talk to us →
The year beside each writer is the year of their earliest piece or book we list, not their birth; lifespans are on each writer's own page. Some have no year yet, and some years are later than their first book. Know an earlier one? Tell us →
Missing a book, or a writer? Tell us →
Anthologies
Contemporary Fireside Poems
Ed. Fatou Taqi and Philip Foday Yamba Thulla
2016
Sierra Leonean Writers Series
An Anthology of Krio Poetry
Ed. Sheikh Umarr Kamarah and Marjorie Jones
2015
Sierra Leonean Writers Series
Poems in Krio by writers of many backgrounds.
Leoneanthology: Contemporary Stories and Poems from Sierra Leone
Ed. Gbanabom Hallowell
2016
Sierra Leonean Writers Series
Mostly first-time writers.
Songs That Pour the Heart
Ed. Moses Kainwo and others
2004
Poems of the war, gathered as the Special Court opened.
Kalashnikov in the Sun
Ed. Kirsten Rian
2009
Pika Press
Poems of the war and after.
This week's writing · Getting around
Write a poem or a short piece about getting around
To start you off: How did news and letters reach your family?
Once an editor has read it, you join the writers above, A to Z, the same as a poet printed in 1888.
Send it →