Conan Businge
4 July 2009
Kampala — AT his birth, the heavens grinned; a graceful grin ," reads the opening line of one of the poems in Justice James Ogoola's newly released anthology.
Personifying the heavens is but one of the literary techniques Ogoola employs in Songs of Paradise, which was launched by the Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi at Hotel Africana on Friday.
"The harvest is born in rich soils indeed... Every single poem carries some spiritual message," Nsibambi said while launching the collection of 52 poems, whose foreword was written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The premier said the "three overriding features of the (book) which the reader cannot miss are the poet's Christian faith, the ornate language and the range of subject matter".
"The book is one of the most outstanding collections of poetry composed in post-colonial Africa. It is a mixture of issues; love, law, faith, history, nature, and governance," he said.
The event was attended, among others, by the Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki, Speaker of Parliament Edward Ssekandi, members of the Judiciary, Kenneth Starr, Members of Parliament, and universities' officials.
Ogoola said his book is: "an anthology covering a wide spectrum of human challenges, nature, values, nature, experiences, and vices."
Justice Ogoola has held various positions including that of the principal legislative draftsman, Uganda's senior legal counselor, deputy general counsel, acting director general of African Development Bank, acting Justice of the supreme court of Uganda, and principal judge.
He is now serving as Lord Justice of COMESA Court of justice, and Judge of Appeal in the East African Court of Justice.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
