GRi Arts & Culture 03 – 01 - 2002

Pan African Writers lauds Senghor

 

 

Pan African Writers lauds Senghor

 

Accra (Greater Accra) 03 January 2002 - The Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) on Wednesday lauded the late Senegalese President Leopold Sedar Senghor saying he contributed immensely to the development of African literary world.

 

The PAWA said in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Mr Atukwei Okai that Mr Senghor, who died late in December, was "a towering African literary ancestor who through his poetry, offered the world a more correct and humane essence of the African to whose future he devoted all the working years...."

 

"In the wilderness of the confusion over the African's place in the scheme of things, which prevailed in the middle of the last century, Leopold Sedar Senghor and his fellow poets, lit the torch of angry protest and confident defiance against white racism and presented in their writings the most lyrical and positive affirmation of the humanity of the African."

 

The statement addressed to the Senegalese President Mr Abdoulaye Wade, commended the heritage of political tolerance and religious harmony that he bequeathed to Senegal and Africa.

 

"The fatherly attention he paid to the concerns of the Senegalese writers and the brotherly support he extended to the writers are happily being emulated by his distinguished successors, and are both an example and inspiration."

GRi.../

 

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