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Return to My Native Land
Return to My Native Land
Nov 9, 2025 8:39 AM

Author:Aimé Césaire,John Berger,Anna Bostock,Jason Allen-Paisant

Return to My Native Land

'We shall speak. We shall sing. We shall shout.' This blazing autobiographical poem by the founder of the négritude movement became a rallying cry for decolonisation when it appeared in 1939. Following one man's return from Europe to his homeland of Martinique, it is a reckoning with the trauma of slavery and exploitation, and a triumphant anthem for Black identity, one which reclaims and remakes language itself.

'Nothing less than the greatest lyrical monument of this time' André Breton

'A Césaire poem explodes and whirls about itself like a rocket, suns burst forth whirling and exploding' Jean-Paul Sartre

'The most influential Francophone Caribbean writer of his generation' Independent

Reviews

Nothing less than the greatest lyrical monument of this time

—— André Breton

Aime Césaire's brooding exploration of Negritude bristles with the energetic, unique qualities of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself . . . [Césaire's] protean lyric, filled with historical allusions, serves to exorcise individual and collective self-hatreds engendered by the psychological trauma of slavery and its aftermath

—— San Francisco Chronicle

One of the most powerful French poets of the century

—— New York Times Book Review

The poem pulls no punches. Now tremulous, now grating, the improvised text drums and jabs in spasmodic phrases and slogans. Each encounter, each twist of idiom, thrusts itself into the reader's mind as a fierce challenge to understand and to empathize

—— Roger Cardinal , The Times Literary Supplement

A more razor-sharp encapsulation of the situation of African slavery could not be found

—— Quarterly Conversation

Edouard Glissant once wrote that everything begins with poetry. Aime Cesaire's epic poem was a true beginning in 1939... Return to my Native Land became the rallying cry of decolonization but the fact that it is still read means it has survived as poetry. This translation preserves its poetic force and its reissue is a welcome event

—— J. Michael Dash, New York University

Return to My Native Land is a monumental tome to our times, and this new translation by John Berger and Anya Bostock possesses the tropical heat of the poet's sonority. Though, in his refrain, Aimé Césaire intones "the small hours," there isn't anything small about the raw lyricism articulated into this incantation of fiery wit. The translators convey the spirit of improvisation, yet, with a deftness of image and music, they deliver this book-length poem as a seamless work of art--an existential cry against a man-made void. What translates is the speaker's revolutionary psyche on to the page--his fierce affirmation of existence through an eloquent clarity of the real and surreal. Nowhere is Césaire's passion sacrificed; this translation is a tribute to the poet

—— Yusef Komunyakaa, New York University

Amazing... This level of sophistication is partly why Césaire became a world citizen, mayor, and Martinique's ambassador to the French Parliament

—— Ebony

A trail-blazing Kenyan legend

—— Al Jazeera

Hilarious, worldly, biting, flippant, and meaningful

—— Achal Prabhala , Africa is a Country

[A] Kenyan literary icon . . . [Binyavanga Wainaina's] work continues to challenge stereotypes and prejudices about Africa

—— The Stream

[Binyavanga Wainaina's] writing dances beyond the borders of language, lineage, genre, containment . . . [His] imagination hops, skips and jumps, in that space of infinite possibilities and worlds waiting to be made and unmade

—— Bubblegum Club

Everything that made Binyavanga so great was there on the page - his righteous passion, his biting wit, his eye for hypocrisy, his arch turn of phrase

—— Matt Weiland

Cutting and incisive, witty and confrontational, and deeply revealing

—— Remy Ngamjie

Wainaina's sharp wit and penetrating analysis . . . shows off his talent for withering satire

—— Publishers Weekly

Both an ode and an introduction to one of the continent's most inimitable literary geniuses

—— Edith Amoafoa-Smart , Africa is a Country

Provocative . . . A lively selection of work that well represents the scope of this fine author

—— Kirkus

How to Write About Africa gathers vivid, powerful essays and fiction by the late Kenyan icon

—— Open Country

Charming ... Moyes is never short on her trademark clever observations ...[her] fans will have a ball

—— Publishers Weekly

Somehow heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time

—— Yours

Explores themes of female friendship, motherhood, ageing, love and disillusionment. Moyes brings her main characters - a unlikely group of women thrown together - to life, each as flawed as they are brilliant, and stronger together

—— Grazia

Something to get excited about . . . [The] most compelling and readable of novels, which will make you wonder what it's really like to walk in someone else's shoes

—— Glamour UK

Showcases Moyes' ability to portray emotion and female friendship with themes of love, betrayal, family, and hope. It is action packed and will have readers rooting for Nisha and Sam

—— Booklist, Starred Review

Full of fun, unlikely friendships . . . and female empowerment, it's a welcome escape. A funny romp

—— Woman

A love letter to the strength of female friendship and how women can really be there for each other

—— Good Housekeeping

A stirring tale of sisterhood, survival and being seen

—— Red

A heartfelt story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances

—— Platinum

Praise for Jojo Moyes

—— -

Moyes is on dazzling form in this big-hearted story

—— Daily Mirror

Raw, funny, real and sad, this is storytelling at its best

—— Marie Claire

Blisteringly good

—— Sun

This truly beautiful story made us laugh, smile and sob like a baby - you simply have to read it

—— Closer

Entertaining, immersive and moving

—— Sunday Times

Dazzling

—— Sunday Express

Moyes somehow manages to break your heart before restoring your faith in love

—— Sunday Express

A genuinely entertaining book, a really cracking story

—— Stylist
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