leopards, oracles and long horns three west african epic cycles by chichi layor A sweeping poetic collection of Nigeria's pre-colonial traditional history. About the author: LEOPARDS, ORACLES AND LONG HORNS is chichi layor's second collection of poetry. Her first collection, BREAK EVERY RULE, was published in 1989, and her poems have subsequently appeared in various magazines and journals in Nigeria and the United States. In addition to writing poetry, she has written a weekly column for a national newspaper in Nigeria. She currently lives in London where she works in the field of human rights. ISBN 0-9678343-3-3 Poetry / $19.95 284 pages Order now from Amazon.com.

Here's what others say about leopards, oracles and long horns:

KINGDOM OF THE LEOPARD--AN EPIC OF OLD BENIN, which makes up only part of this volume, is an ingenious collection of vastly hilarious epic tales of the legendary West African kingdom of Benin.Chichi Layor recounts with unparalleled sprightly skills and engaging artistry, spicy and often "absurd" tales of a kingdom and monarchy replete with unbridled power, sexual exploits and female dehumanization, all at the level of fantasy and the surreal. Layor's touches of humor, lucid diction,simplicity of narration,and vivid originality make KINGDOM OF THE LEOPARD memorable reading for all ages. It is an exciting new synthesis of the varied epic tales of the Kingdom of Benin in a form fit for serious classroom discourse as well as cheerful recreation for the general reader. It is truly a seminal addition to the corpus of richly endowed but sadly least explored and under-researched area of African Literature.

- Ernest N.Emenyonu PhD, Author of The Rise of the Igbo Novel and
Goatskin Bags and Wisdom: New Critical Perspectives on African Literature
and Professor of English/Director, Africana Studies St. Augustine's College, Raleigh, North Carolina

In LEOPARDS, ORACLES AND LONG HORNS the Nigerian poet chichi layor brings together for the first time in three readable, oftentimes humorous, poetic cycles, the lore and legends of the kings, queens, and subjects of three distinct parts of Nigeria: the ancient Edo kingdom of Benin in THE KINGDOM OF THE LEOPARD, the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo in ORACLES DON'T LIE, and the tales of the Hausa peoples in LAND OF THE LONG HORN. No other Nigerian poet has attempted such a sweeping poetic collection of Nigeria's pre-colonial traditional history.

-Guida Jackson PhD, Author of TRADITIONAL EPICS: AN OXFORD LITERARY COMPANION

chichi layor