Presenting poetry to the King

This weekend will see Cameroonian-born, Cardiff-based writer Eric Ngalle Charles under the spotlight, as he’s been commissioned to write and present a poem to the Paramount Ruler of Buea, the capital city of the southwest region of Cameroon.

It will be performed during a cultural evening in Leicester in the presence of the Cameroonian ambassador, in an event both celebrating and building bridges between the cultures of Cameroon and the UK and Wales in particular, from Eric’s point of view.

First visit

In the run-up to what will be a first-time visit to the UK by the Paramount Ruler of Buea, arranged by the Bakweri Community of the United Kingdom, Ant Evans discussed the impending visi with Eric Charlest. The poet, playwright and performer was eager to underline the significance of the visit by The Paramount ruler of Buea HRM Chief Dr Robert Esuka Endeley.

‘This is the first time that the King has visited the UK and also the first time the Bakweri diaspora have played host to such a VIP.  Robert’s great great great grandfather, Kuve Likenye, defeated the Germans in battle in 1891.’

Poet, playwright and activist

Eric Ngalle Charles himself is a Cameroonian writer, poet, playwright, and human rights activist based in Wales. Currently a PhD researcher at King’s College London, he was awarded a Creative Wales Award Fellowship in 2017 for his work on migration, trauma, and memory.

In his autobiography I, Eric Ngalle: One Man’s Journey Crossing Continents from Africa to Europe (2019, Parthian Books), he recounts his journey to Europe, and eventually to Wales, spending several years in Russia and elsewhere seeking refuge. He was selected as one of Jackie Kay’s ‘best British BAME writers’ with a unique theatrical voice.

So what will you be doing on the night?

‘There are 3 MCs including myself. I’ve been commissioned to write and present a piece, a poem specifically, for the chief and the Bakweri diaspora and the Cameroonian ambassador His Excellency Albert Fotadong.’

How important is this visit to you personally?

‘It’s a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful opportunity to present my work to the king. But also, as I’m more widely known outside of Cameroon, an opportunity to be introduced to Cameroonian audiences and to show them the opportunities this wonderful country has offered me. The fact they picked me is a privilege. My job is to be a bridge builder when others try to burn them.’

How many people from Cameroon live in Wales?

‘There is a substantial community in Wales, located in Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth, Bangor. One of those travelling with me tomorrow was voted by the Guardian as one of the UK’s best mathematicians. Elive Francis Gobina teaches in Fitzalan High School in Cardiff.’

How does the Cameroonian community here in Wales stay connected to one another?

‘There’s a Cameroonian Women’s Association. Also, there’s Le Mandela Restaurant, Penarth Road in Grangetown in Cardiff. Just go on a Friday or Saturday. Chances are someone will turn up if you’re looking for a Cameroonian.’

Eric Ngalle Charles is the editor of Hiraeth Erzolirzoli: A Wales-Cameroon Anthology (2018) and is the author of The 3 Molas (2020, Hafan Books). His poetry Collection Homelands (Seren Books) was published in 2022.

You can read Eric’s Letter from Leckwith, written for Nation.Cymru here.