TIKUM MBAH AZONGA PUBLISHES THREE BOOKS

This article was published in THE POST ONLINE under the byline of Christopher Jator Njechu on 29 October 2007 and downloaded from UPSTATION MOUNTAIN CLUB on 26 September 2009 by the author of the books, Tikum Mbah Azonga.
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Three news books have found sanctuary in Cameroon's library. "The Wooden Bicycle" - a collection of short stories, "Sighs and Whispers" - a collection of poems and "Modern Cameroon Poetry Book 3" - an anthology of poems were written by a translator and CRTV journalist, Tikum Mbah Azonga.

He, however, co-authored "Modern Cameroon Poetry Book 3" with Dr Doh, a university lecturer in America and Ben Young Junior, the Principal of GBHS Fundong in the Northwest Province.

All the three books which treat themes of everyday life: experiences, joys and pains, focus on the curriculum for Cameroon schools and are used in classes I to III, respectively. Speaking shortly after the launching, Tikum Mbah said in "Sighs and Whispers" he is putting across the message that poetry is an overflow of emotions; that this message is deeply embedded in the poem called 'Afo-Akum'.
In short, the message is that life is what you make it. According to Tikum, the short stories as well as poems should interest everybody. "Somebody, everybody has to learn something from the books," Tikum said.

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FOOT NOTE BY AUTHOR OF BOOKS

All three books later went on to become official set textbooks in Cameroon's schools. "Sighs and Whispers from Within" was one of the National Book Commission's two options for Form Two Poetry, while "Modern Cameroon Poetry" enjoyed the same treatment in Form Three. "The Wooden Bicycle and Other Stories", although not on the official booklist for secondary schools, continues to be a favourite classroom textbook for prose in some reputable secondary schools of the private sector. The book is also beeing used as a set text book at the University of Buea and in the Department of English Modern Letters at the Ecole Normale Supérieure Annexe in Bambili.