Blogs

Aha chi Water? Aha chi Blood?

Dec 09 2019 | 23 Comments

I was about 14 years old when my father concretized the lesson on family bonds. It happened during the long holidays in Cameroon when students spend over three months at home, from June to September. True to my teenage self, I decided to sew a stylis

Book Review: My Journey by Teih Belinda Nungse

Aug 19 2019 | 0 Comments

Book Title: My Journey Category: Non-Fiction (autobiography) Author:  Teih Belinda Nungse Publisher: Page Publishing Inc. Publishing Date: 2019 My Journey by Teih Belinda Nungse is a detailed “no holds barred” memoir of

English 110 Draft:  A Story about a Humanitarian Gone too Soon!

Apr 12 2019 | 0 Comments

 For Victor Pungong, April 11th 1967- May 9th 2007
By Joyce Ashuntantang What you have heard is true. She stepped into my office cradling her folder in her bosom. Her pink boots

Forget-Me-Not

Dec 12 2017 | 0 Comments

When I was a child I measured my steps With bright flowers on the narrow Shortcuts to school. Two flowers I still remember: The sunflower at the start of my journey. It’s petals like the sun lit my way I touched it not for fear I wou

For Junction Here: A Poem in Cameroon Pidgin English

May 06 2016 | 0 Comments

By © Joyce Ashuntantang Anytime I shidon for this place All ting wey I di see na ya face Na for dis junction I be used to see ya heart; As I be want make we be You no be ever gree me I touch Ya own tightit be too much I go beg; loo

Two Poems in Kenyang at Hartford Loves Poetry Event- Connecticut, USA

Jun 04 2014 | 0 Comments

[embed]https://youtu.be/2CkEM3zVUtk[/embed]

Draft English Translation of Poems:

ASO (ASHUM): My Ancestral Home

Aso, my ancestral home in Cameroon Aso, at the foot of Apiong[i] You are rooted in my heart Until the

Identity

Sep 12 2012 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang

My daughter, you tell me you did not fall from a tree You have a father, and you want his name And so today you carry a piece of paper with A new name, a flash light of identity They say I am a good

YOUR SON

Aug 27 2012 | 0 Comments

by Joyce Ashuntantang (c)

Yesterday our son was your son alone As he made touchdowns into your patriarchal heart You pranced the sidelines showing off the semblance of your nose Your chest moving ahead, you said “That’s my boy

A Journey into Statelessness?

Jan 10 2017 | 0 Comments

    Joyce Ashuntantang, Ph.D.

I grew up speaking English in Cameroon. In fact, I was born into English and never considered it a foreign language. I was also bo

Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang’s Birthday Celebration Part 2

Nov 28 2016 | 0 Comments

"Highlights of Part2 of Dr Joyce Ashuntantang's Golden Birthday Celebration in New-York City. The First Part of the celebration was a sightseeing lunch cruise on the Bateaux, New York." [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_niV2KkDA[/embed]

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Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang Golden Birthday Celebration

Oct 10 2016 | 0 Comments

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqCXti-PuiA&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

True African Woman (For Professor Joyce Ashuntantang)

Mar 22 2016 | 0 Comments

By Ekpe Inyang When the name I first heard Matched with plans of a great event In honour of a fallen Iroko Tree I saw in my mind’s eyes A lady in full display of grey hair Majestic look, pompous gait Imperious tone to announce Her place

Joyce Ashuntantang – A Woman on the Go!

Mar 21 2016 | 0 Comments

Originally published in Summit Magazine Joyce_ashuntantaeduart When one talks with Joyce Ashuntantang, one is tempted to think she has lived for a hundred years. That is because Joyce has always been on the go. She has studied in Cameroon, Brita

A Libation of Words: For Maya Angelou

Mar 21 2016 | 0 Comments

By Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang, University of Hartford, CT And yes Maya Angelou will continue to rise from the ashes of history A new ancestral presence, visible to those who feel Yes, the earth will not confine her This Amazon, daughter o

Jacob Nguni: His pen was as fluent as his guitar

May 25 2015 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang The world got to know him as the gifted lead guitarist responsible for the “singing guitar” in Prince Nico Mbarga's hit song "Sweet Mother". His name also entered the psyche of a generation when Prince Nico Mbarga present

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

May 05 2015 | 0 Comments

The beautiful painting hung on the wall. It was titled "Paradise Palms". We had to produce one exactly like that. Our coach, Katie explained how we were going to do that. I listened attentively but it just seemed an impossible task. I had never pain

Monique Kwachou’s “Rough-drafts: from reading to writing”

Apr 23 2015 | 0 Comments

There is a lot to like about Monique Kwachou’s “Rough Draft: From Reading to Writing” but I am enthralled by the defiance behind publishing a piece of writing labeled “rough draft”. That in itself is a critic of the writing process. After

Barbara Tah Gwanmesia

Sep 24 2008 | 0 Comments

Barbara Tah Gwanmesia celebrated author of Vasona's Secret is our guest in the Spotlight. A graduate of Journalism, International Relations and World Politics with a confessed avid yearning for an understanding of how the human mind works and mankind

English 110 Draft:  A Story about a Humanitarian Gone too Soon!

Apr 12 2019 | 0 Comments

 For Victor Pungong, April 11th 1967- May 9th 2007
By Joyce Ashuntantang What you have heard is true. She stepped into my office cradling her folder in her bosom. Her pink boots

A Journey into Statelessness?

Jan 10 2017 | 0 Comments

    Joyce Ashuntantang, Ph.D.

I grew up speaking English in Cameroon. In fact, I was born into English and never considered it a foreign language. I was also bo

Jacob Nguni: His pen was as fluent as his guitar

May 25 2015 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang The world got to know him as the gifted lead guitarist responsible for the “singing guitar” in Prince Nico Mbarga's hit song "Sweet Mother". His name also entered the psyche of a generation when Prince Nico Mbarga present

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

May 05 2015 | 0 Comments

The beautiful painting hung on the wall. It was titled "Paradise Palms". We had to produce one exactly like that. Our coach, Katie explained how we were going to do that. I listened attentively but it just seemed an impossible task. I had never pain

Cameroon Teen, Nina Foyabo, Impacts Lives with Her Hair

Apr 21 2015 | 0 Comments

(First reported on Exssa-usa.org)

What would make a young black girl give up her long full-bodied hair, especially at this time when hair extensions have become the norm for most young black women? Ask 14 year old Nina Foyabo. Most teenag

She Earned IT in Her Own Right: For Anne Nkwain Nsang

Dec 19 2014 | 2 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang

At 4:30 p.m today, December 19th 2014, the energetic and dynamic ace journalist, Anne Nsang will be lying in state in Yaoundé Cameroon. In spite of the fact that her fight with lung cancer had already made it

Joyce Ashuntantang: Using Poetry to Help Save Cultural Treasures

Sep 16 2014 | 0 Comments

By Barbara Steinberger ( First published in

UNotes

) Whether she is helping students find their voices through poetry, introducing them to authors around the world via Skype, or guiding them as they recite words of inspiration from

And Dr. Bertrand Fote Got Married to…Miss Laura Ayuk-Takem

Sep 05 2014 | 0 Comments

Any way you dice it, Dr. Bertrand Fote and Laura Ayuk-Takem’s wedding on Saturday, August 30th 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina, was one for the books. I always knew Bertrand Fote’s wedding would be a multilayered event. Why? The young man is s

World Cup 2014: Brazil’s Hubris and the Brazuca

Jul 12 2014 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang

Not many FIFA world cup fans know that the official name of the 2014 FIFA World match ball is “Brazuca” and not many know that the name was selected by Brazilians after an unprecedented v

The Game of Life Goes On: Let’s Play it the Komla Dumor Way!

Feb 07 2014 | 0 Comments

Well, 2014 has settled in, and I am back on my blog after a hiatus. Fortunately, I was able to connect with some of you via facebook. Truth be told, 2013 called for some emotional heavy lifting and I had to conserve my energy, but it is a new season

That Man Was One Of The Greatest Men In Nigeria, Africa; You Drove Him To Tell Stories And Now He Will Live Forever.

Mar 25 2013 | 0 Comments

A Tribute to Chinua Achebe, 1930-2013

by Joyce Ashuntantang

It is difficult to know where to begin to pay tribute to the Eagle on the Iroko, but fortunately he gave me “a mouth with which to tell my

I Went; I saw; I did not Conquer: Saying Goodbye to Bate Besong and Co.

Mar 08 2012 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang

(Afterword from Their Champagne Party Will End: Poems in Honor of Bate Besong) March 8th 2007, the literary sky fell in Cameroon. Bate Besong; Kwasen Gwangwa’a, Hilarious Ambe, and their driver we

I Have Been Inside Letter “V”

Nov 24 2011 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang

Yes, Batuo’s World has been quiet for some time. I can now tell you why. I have been inside letter V. Oh yes, even those of us whom friends and family have labeled "tough" have a time when the leaves of life just

Bebe Manga’s Voice Continues to deliver…

Jul 29 2011 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang In life she had no biological children of her own but her death proved that she had used her voice to deliver a mammoth crowd that showed up at her wake yesterday at the Limbe municipal stadium. It is this crowd with persons

My Son Loved the Wrong Animal

Mar 14 2011 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang I have never been one for pets. I did not grow up with a dog or cat. Truth be told: I am scared of dogs. I have actually been bitten a couple of times by dogs. No pun intended. I am equally uncomfortable around cats; they lea

My Christmas Gifts: Moments with my dying Cousin

Mar 14 2011 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang, Ph.D. Today, January 6th 2011, my cousin, Joan Bechem-Agbor Arrey, will start her final journey to her resting place in her husband’s village in Akak, Manyu

My Thoughts on the Inauguration

Jan 20 2009 | 0 Comments

As I watched Larry King yesterday night, he kept asking this same question to all his guests: What does the inauguration mean to you? I have been trying to answer that question this morning. As a black person living in the United States at this t

50 Years After “Things Fall Apart”: A Chat with Chinua Achebe

Sep 24 2008 | 0 Comments

By Joyce Ashuntantang, PhD “Okonkwo was well known through out the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his clan by throwing Amalinze the cat”. Wit

Kenjo Jumbam and the Unfulfilled Potential of Early Anglophone Cameroon Writers

Sep 24 2008 | 0 Comments

Joyce Ashuntantang

(Originally published in Palapala Magazine) Kenjojumbam In 2005, veteran Cameroonian writer, Kenjo Jumbam, author of The White Man Of God died in his native Nso, prematurely ending the career of one of Cameroo