BETHLEHEM SONGS by Shola Balogun

In the silent and cold nights,
When the stars thronghola
In twinkling lights
Across the distant brooks,
A lone Shepherd’s gleeful looks
Tell the memory of Bethlehem song
And the undying themes
In the immortal hymns.

Biography:

Shola Balogun,playwright,poet and writer whose creative Muse is the
Mystic ladder of the Yoruba world and Judeo-Christian thoughts,is from
Yoruba South-Western part of Nigeria,West Africa.

He was the winner of the First Educare Trust’s OLAUDAH EQUIANO POETRY
PRIZE(2002)and the FESTIVAL OF PEACE POETRY AWARD(2OO5)organized by
the Institute of African Studies,University of Ibadan.

He is the author of a collection of Poetry,THE CORNWOMAN OF JURARE &
OTHER POEMS(2007).

His other books are:

THE WRESTLING OF JACOB,

DEATH AND SUICIDE IN SELECTED AFRICAN PLAYS,

and,PRAYING DANGEROUSLY:THE CRY OF BLIND BARTIMAEUS

(available at Amazon and Select bookstores)

His play,EGUE EGHAE,is ready for the stage.

Balogun also writes stories for Children.

He has featured as a guest writer and contributor,especially in the
areas of poetry and Postcolonial studies/dramatic criticism to
Magazines,Anthologies and Journals,including International Journal of
Research(Edupedia Publication Scholar Support Scheme),60 Years of The
Muse At U.I(edited by Professor Femi Osofisan),Poetic Passions:An
Indo-Nigerian Anthology of Poetry(edited by Mutiu Olawuyi and
J.S.Anand), Bewildering Stories,Tuck Magazine,The Bitchin’ Kitsch,Ovi
Magazine,and others.

His scholarly articles include:

“Mystic Ladder In The Yoruba World And Judeo-Christian Thoughts”

“Poetry:The Yoruba world and Judeo-Christian vision”

“The Tragic Conventions In African Plays”

“Tragedy in African Theatre”

“Traditional Religious Festival as
Theatre”

“Theatre Aesthetics in Pre-Colonial Africa”

“Satire and Comic Ribaldry in a Traditional African Theatre”

“The religious recluse of the Oro cult and Yoruba bardic tradition”

“In Jerusalem”By the Mystic
Poet SIAM:A Review