Requiem, Rwanda
Requiem, Rwanda
Laura Apol
Copyright Date: 2015
Published by: Michigan State University Press
Pages: 104
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/j.ctt13x0p1r
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Requiem, Rwanda
Book Description:

A marvelous, moving new collection of poems,Requiem, Rwandahas its roots in 2006, when Laura Apol made her first trip to Rwanda. Apol's initial goal was to develop, in conjunction with Rwandan and American colleagues, a project using narrative writing to facilitate healing among young survivors of the 1994 genocide. During the time she spent leading workshops, Apol felt moved to write her own poems, and after the writing-for-healing project ended, she returned to Rwanda several times to continue her creative work. The legacy of the genocide-on the people, on the land itself-makes its presence felt in many of the poems. The poems are also accounts of Apol's relationships with and understandings of people post-genocide-where their stories go, how they reenter their lives, and how a country that has been deeply wounded by its history continues on. These poems don't shy away from exploring the complications of being a white woman, a Westerner, and a witness in this setting: Apol relates her sense of compassion, privilege, horror, guilt, voyeurism, obligation, and love. This new collection is a rich testimonial to the strength of a nation and its people. The collection includes a closing essay, "Writer as a Witness."

eISBN: 978-1-60917-444-6
Subjects: Sociology, History, Language & Literature
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-vi)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. vii-viii)
  3. FOREWORD
    FOREWORD (pp. ix-xii)
    Kenneth Waltzer

    Laura Apol’s meditation in poetry form on the Rwandan genocide and its legacy, together with her notes and commentary on her witness during and after years she taught testimony writing in Rwanda, offers a startling and remarkable original document. I have seen few things like it. I am neither a student of poetry nor of the Rwandan genocide, but I am a student of genocide and an aficionado of testimony, memory, and witness after catastrophe. I sense a special talent and extraordinary bond with Rwanda at work in these pages.

    Normally poems in poetry books stand alone; they are offered...

  4. PREFACE
    PREFACE (pp. xiii-xiv)
  5. PROLOGUE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF RWANDA
    PROLOGUE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF RWANDA (pp. xv-xxii)

    The country of Rwanda is located in east central Africa, two degrees south of the equator and bordered by Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Breathtakingly beautiful, it is known as “Le Pays des Mille Collines”—The Land of a Thousand Hills—and the elevation of those hills makes it temperate year round. Historically, its people flourished with cattle and farming, developing a culturally rich society that was ruled by a central monarch (mwami) and sophisticated networks drawn along lines of regions and clans, divided into a standardized structure of provinces, districts, hills, and neighborhoods, and administered...

  6. Introit
    • Genesis: The Source of the Nile
      Genesis: The Source of the Nile (pp. 3-6)
  7. Dies Irae
    • Early April in Rwanda
      Early April in Rwanda (pp. 9-10)
    • Six Seconds
      Six Seconds (pp. 11-12)
    • Even the Land Did Not Escape
      Even the Land Did Not Escape (pp. 13-13)
    • Canticle for the Bones of the Dead
      Canticle for the Bones of the Dead (pp. 14-14)
    • Genocide Site 1: Nyamata Church
      Genocide Site 1: Nyamata Church (pp. 15-15)
    • Genocide Site 2: Ntarama Church
      Genocide Site 2: Ntarama Church (pp. 16-17)
    • Eucharist
      Eucharist (pp. 18-18)
    • Mother of God
      Mother of God (pp. 19-20)
    • Church at Nyange
      Church at Nyange (pp. 21-22)
  8. Lacrimosa
    • Witness
      Witness (pp. 25-25)
    • Rift
      Rift (pp. 26-27)
    • The Lives of Others
      The Lives of Others (pp. 28-29)
    • Left
      Left (pp. 30-30)
    • Pink
      Pink (pp. 31-32)
    • Confession
      Confession (pp. 33-33)
    • Return to Remera
      Return to Remera (pp. 34-34)
    • Dry Bones
      Dry Bones (pp. 35-36)
  9. Sanctus
    • At the Hotel Bar
      At the Hotel Bar (pp. 39-39)
    • Watching a Man Cut the Grass
      Watching a Man Cut the Grass (pp. 40-40)
    • Lifelines
      Lifelines (pp. 41-41)
    • Before Memorial Week: April 5, 2009
      Before Memorial Week: April 5, 2009 (pp. 42-43)
    • Poolside after Dark
      Poolside after Dark (pp. 44-44)
    • Testimony
      Testimony (pp. 45-45)
    • Meeting François in Heaven
      Meeting François in Heaven (pp. 46-46)
    • Samuel and the Boys
      Samuel and the Boys (pp. 47-48)
    • Gorilla Family Amahoro
      Gorilla Family Amahoro (pp. 49-50)
    • Umuganda
      Umuganda (pp. 51-51)
    • Reparations
      Reparations (pp. 52-52)
    • Rwanda Stands up for Haiti: January 2010
      Rwanda Stands up for Haiti: January 2010 (pp. 53-54)
    • Language Lessons
      Language Lessons (pp. 55-58)
  10. Benedictus
    • Milkfugue
      Milkfugue (pp. 61-62)
  11. NOTES ON THE POEMS
    NOTES ON THE POEMS (pp. 63-70)
  12. EPILOGUE: WRITER AS WITNESS
    EPILOGUE: WRITER AS WITNESS (pp. 71-90)

    The poems in this collection were written across several years and many visits. Originally, I traveled to Rwanda to plan, with Rwandan and American colleagues, a workshop that would use narrative writing to facilitate healing among survivors of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi. The writing-for-healing project allowed me to return to Rwanda to conduct the workshops and train facilitators, and later to present the work at an international conference in Kigali. When my role in the project ended, I made several more trips to Rwanda to focus on writing poetry of my own.

    One of the goals stated by...

  13. NOTES
    NOTES (pp. 91-94)
  14. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
    ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (pp. 95-98)
  15. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (pp. 99-101)
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