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Homelands is the first collection of poems by the Wales-based Eric Ngalle Charles and is divided into sections that echo his adventurous and sometimes harrowing biography. Part one focuses on his childhood in the West African state of Cameroon. These poems often resound with warmth and humour, fond memories of sitting in his mother’s kitchen, of making toys out of leaves. We sense the beauty of the landscapes around Mount Cameroon and become one of the crowd of children who follow the aunties ‘tea-plucking’ on plantations. But we also meet some of the darker deities from the mythologies in the Bakweri language, invoked by characters like the ‘Soothsayer’, which also gives these early poems ominous hints of danger. The threats are not just imaginary but all-too-real with a volatile government, and a civil war in the two ‘English’ Speaking regions of North and South West that is threatening to engulf the whole country. We also learn, as the author does, of an absent father whose picture he discovers under his mother’s bed. In the poem for Queenta, his sister, we have a glossary of some beautiful words in Bakweri, the native language of this region, along with some of the colourful mythology included in their etymologies. In Part two, Displacements, we first have some retrospective poems that recall the troubled history of Cameroon, of its slicing-up by colonial authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries and how this might echo older rivalries and wars and wars to come. In this section we hear of some heart-breaking twists of fortune for the young poet. (‘Inheritance, 1997’). Promised a college education in Belgium and tricked onto an airliner, he is taken by traffickers to Moscow, whilst family eager family members abscond with an inheritance from his father. There, seemingly abandoned by his family, without a passport or immigration status, he is forced to join a criminal gang who specialise in elaborate scams and robberies. He survives this betrayal with courage and resourcefulness, makes friends and allies. He also embraces the Russian language with help from kindly locals (‘Great Aunt Vera’). These poems are filled with both longing and bitterness. There are also poems here about others confined or subjected to unjust circumstances: victims of violence, drowning migrants, a natural disaster that inflicts a catastrophe upon Cameroon. The witch-figure ‘Farzana’, a figure of both fear and yearning, is the muse of this section. The third section, Cymru, includes poems that mostly take place in Ngalle’s newly adopted homeland of Wales. After a series of misadventures, Eric manages to escape his captors in Moscow, and the poet lands at Heathrow, where he begins another adventure after he spontaneously steps onto a bus with names he recognises: Swansea via Cardiff. The opening poem ‘Bus 18 from Ely’ is both humorous and pointed. The casual racism he encounters can be safely mocked, against the backdrop of his dangerous experiences in Russia. There are praise poems to his new homeland: ‘Cyru 1-3’ as well as further wry encounters. The past, however, is never safely stored away and the poet struggles with flashbacks, triggering episodes that remind him of previous trauma. He returns as a visitor to Cameroon, confronting some old ghosts and trying to forgive those who wronged him. Through writing, Eric Ngalle Charles discovered a gift for expression and performance, an outlet for his energy, a balm for his suffering and a means for his generosity. Embraced by the cultural community, aided by staff and students at Swansea University, befriended by fellow poets, invited to festivals and events who love to showcase his marvelous voice and presence, Charles is a more-than-welcome new voice. Seren is pleased to be the publisher of his vibrant and moving first collection of poems, Homelands. Homelands is the first collection of poems by Wales-based poet Eric Ngalle Charles. Divided into sections, part one focuses on his childhood in the West African state of Cameroon. These poems often resound with warmth and humour, fond memories of sitting in his mother’s kitchen, of making toys out of leaves. We sense the beauty of the landscapes around Mount Cameroon and become one of the crowd of children who follow the aunties ‘tea-plucking’ on plantations. But we also meet some of the darker deities from the mythologies in the Bakweri language, invoked by characters like the ‘Soothsayer’, which also gives these early poems ominous hints of danger. Part two, Displacements, opens with retrospective poems that recall the troubled history of Cameroon, of its slicing-up by colonial authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries and how this might echo older rivalries and wars to come. These move into poems detailing heart-breaking twists of fortune in the poet's own life. Promised a college education in Belgium he is tricked onto an airliner and taken by traffickers to Moscow. Seemingly abandoned by his family and stranded without a passport or immigration status, he is forced to join a criminal gang to survive. Alongside these poems, full of longing, are poems about others confined or subjected to unjust circumstances: victims of violence, drowning migrants, a natural disaster that inflicts a catastrophe upon Cameroon. The third section, Cymru, is predominantly set in Ngalle’s newly adopted homeland of Wales. After a series of misadventures, Eric manages to escape Moscow landing at Heathrow where he begins another adventure after spontaneously stepping onto a bus with names he recognises: Swansea via Cardiff. The poems in this section are both humorous and pointed. There are poems praising his new homeland, as well as further wry encounters. The past, however, is never safely stored away and the poet struggles with flashbacks, triggering episodes that remind him of previous trauma. Eventually he returns to Cameroon as a visitor, confronting some old ghosts and trying to forgive those who wronged him. This is a vibrant and moving debut.

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