Reesom Haile

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Reesom Haile , also Reʼesom Hāyla , (* 1946 in British Eritrea ; † 2003 in Brussels , Belgium ) was an Eritrean poet , journalist and lecturer . Haile is considered one of the most famous poets in his country.

Life

Reesom Haile was born in 1946 into an Eritrean family of traditional farmers. At that time, Eritrea was under British administration before it was annexed and administered by the Abyssinian Empire (Ethiopia) from 1961 . Haile grew up in Eritrea; after completing his school education, he moved to Ethiopia to work as a television and radio journalist. Thanks to a scholarship, Haile was able to take up a BA at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts (USA). He then completed his PhD in “Media Ecology” at New York University and lectured in media studies at the university's “ The New School for Social Research ” institute. Since he was unable to return to his home country due to the war of independence between Eritrea and Ethiopia , Haile worked for more than two decades as a communication consultant for development projects for agencies of the United Nations , governments and non-governmental organizations. Only in 1994, after Eritrea gained full independence, did Haile return to his homeland.

After his return, Haile began to work as a poet in order to be able to put into words his feelings towards his homeland after his long exile. In total, Haile wrote over 2000 poems in Tigrinya , one of the main languages ​​of the East African country. Within a very short time, Haile gained great attention and appreciation for his poetic work both inside and outside Eritrea. His later friend and translator Charles Cantalupo wrote that Haile was always greeted on the streets of Asmara by numerous people who recited lines from his poems.

In 1997 his first volume of poetry was published with the title Waza Ms Qumneger Ninsae Hager , for which he was awarded the "Ramok" Prize in 1998, the highest Eritrean prize for literature. In 2000 his first volume of poetry was published in English with the title We Have Our Voice by Red Sea Press, in 2002, shortly before his death, the band We Invented the Wheel . Haile's friend Charles Cantalupo translated his poems into English. In 2003 Reesom Haile died of lung cancer in Brussels.

Poetry

Reesom Haile is one of a number of authors who began to create African poetry in African and not previously colonial languages ​​from the 1990s. Writing in Tigrinya saw Haile as the strongest embodiment of Eritrean culture, both on an individual and community level. Thematically, Haile was very diverse in his poems, he covered traditional as well as modern topics. Language itself was also an important theme in his poetry.

Works

  • Waza Ms Qumneger Ntnsa (1997)
  • Bahlna Bahlbana (1999)
  • We Have Our Voice (2000)
  • We Invented the Wheel (2002)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Charles Cantapulo: Reesom, Haile . In: Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates, Jr (Eds.): Dictionary of African Biography . tape 5 . Oxford Press, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5 , pp. 105-107 .
  2. ↑ Introduction to "We Have Our Voices" by Reesom Haile, major poet of the reemergent African nation of Eritrea. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Reesom Haile / Charles Cantalupo. In: Dunkenboat.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Charles Cantalupo: Reesom Haile's Poetry. In: emilydickinson.org. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .


personal data
SURNAME Haile, Reesom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hāyla, Reʼesom
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Eritrean poet, journalist and lecturer
DATE OF BIRTH 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH British Eritrea
DATE OF DEATH 2003
Place of death Brussels , Belgium