Words from the Edge

This collection of poems originated in the annual conference of ‘indigenous’ peoples, held for the last twenty years at the United Nations in Geneva. It is the dream child of Lance Henson, a South Cheyenne Indian, who organised a European tour for three poets from minority languages: Lance Henson himself, Apirana Taylor, a Maori from New Zealand, and Thounaojam Chanu Ibemhal ‘Memchoubi’, a Meitei from Manipur. It is a song sung by different voices, but with one unique melody; a heartfelt cry telling of the ancient and ever-renewed stories of 'colonized' peoples: Stories of strength, courage and immense love of roots, language, tradition and culture. They speak the universal language of the silence and whispering of nature, a voice both sacred and divine that talks of itself and the world, evocatively weaving spiders’ webs, original, memorable tapestries of poetry and beauty.