100 days... 100 days that should not have been... 100 days the world could have stopped. But did not.
For 100 days, Juliane Okot Bitek recorded the lingering nightmare of the Rwandan genocide in a poem—each poem recalling the senseless loss of life and of innocence. Okot Bitek draws on her own family's experience of displacement under the regime of Idi Amin, pulling in fragments of the poetic traditions she encounters along the way: the Ugandan Acholi oral tradition of her father—the poet Okot p'Bitek; Anglican hymns; the rhythms and sounds of the African American Spiritual tradition; and the beat of spoken word and hip-hop. 100 Days is a collection of poetry that will stop you in your tracks.
It was the earth that betrayed us first
it
was the earth that held onto its beauty
compelling
us to return
it
was the breezes that were there
&
then not there
it
was the sun that rose & fell
rose
& fell
as if
there was nothing different
as if
nothing changed
Book details
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Language
English -
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About the author
Juliane Okot Bitek
Writer Juliane Okot Bitek is a PhD Candidate with the University of British Columbia’s Liu Institute for Global Issues in Vancouver. Some of her essays and creative writing can be found at julianeokotbitek.com.
Juliane Okot Bitek has never stopped exploring the power of narrative, focusing her passionate essays, poetry and nonfiction work on political and social issues. Her work has been anthologized and published widely on-line, in print and in literary magazines such as Arc, Whetstone, Fugue, and Room of One’s Own.
In 2004, her short story Going Home won the Commonwealth Short Story Contest, and was featured on the BBC and CBC; her essay, War No More, won first prize in the post-secondary essay competition in 2005.
Another essay, On Iris Chang’s Rape of Nanking, won a special mention in 2006 and is included in an anthology of winning essays from that year. In 2007, Juliane received a Canada Council grant which supported her writing a collection of non-fiction.
Juliane Okot Bitek holds a Master’s Degree in English and a BFA in Creative Writing, and is currently a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Students Graduate Program at the University of British Columbia’s Liu Institute for Global Issues. Her doctoral research focuses on post-conflict narratives of formerly abducted women in northern Uganda.
Along with northern Ugandan women’s advocate Grace Acan, she recently co-authored the book Stories from the Dry Season. Juliane has been an invited poet at the International Poetry Festivals of Medellin, Colombia (2008) and Granada, Nicaragua (2009). She continues to write and speak about issues of home, homeland and diaspora.
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