Formless
REVIEWS, 30 Sep 2024
Beatrice Lamwaka – TRANSCEND Media Service
Formless by Raïs Neza Boneza – Review by Beatrice Lamwaka
27 Sep 2024 – In Formless, Raïs Neza Boneza’s voice is confident in calling for peace and respect for human rights. Right from the first poem, Boneza does not mince his words in calling for an end to endless bombing and massacres at a time when this seems to go on in the world unabated. Boneza is an activist for a better world where we treat each with respect, where we are united to create a better world, we must heal past traumas and make this world a better place even for refugees who are seeking a better life in foreign land.
Formless is an honest, deeply personal and vulnerable writing that dig into the consciousness of human experience. Readers will question their involvement in messing the world, did they watch as a genocide went on? What are our roles in systems that prevent us from creating peace all around us? Boneza’s skilled use of language and form creates a sense of complexities, reflecting the ever-changing nature of life. Its very clear to the readers that writes in multiple languages and he uses this mastery to his advantage to provoke the readers further.
In this collection, Boneza weaves language and its evident that he has the ability to provoke readers to find themselves engrossed in the depth of his beautiful words. Boneza uses language to his advantage with precision, often using rhythmic slang and sometimes breaking away from traditional rhymes altogether. This deliberate manipulation of poetry writing form invites readers to explore the deeper meaning of what Boneza is saying, challenging them to understand the world better through, of course, his perspectives.
Through these poems, Boneza explores themes of identity, love, loss, healing, peace, and self-discovery, weaving a narrative that is both deeply personal to him and universally relatable for everyone. His writing is evocative and accessible to every reader, making this collection a joy to read for everyone.
Boneza’s unique voice and perspective shine throughout the collection, you will read it like you have never heard this before. He offers a fresh and elating perspective on the world.
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Beatrice Lamwaka is the founder and director of Arts Therapy Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides psychological and emotional support through creative arts therapies. She writes articles, short stories, poetry, and is working on her first adult novel, Sunflowers and is a member of Ugandan PEN. She is a recipient of 2011 Young Achievers Award and was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing. Her stories have been published in the USA, UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zambia. Her stories have been translated into Spanish, French and Kinyarwanda.
Raïs Neza Boneza is the author of fiction as well as non-fiction, poetry books and articles. He was born in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Former Zaïre). He is also an activist and peace practitioner. Raïs is convener of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment for Central and African Great Lakes and uses his work to promote artistic expressions as a means to deal with conflicts and maintaining mental wellbeing, spiritual growth and healing. He has travelled extensively in Africa and around the world as a lecturer, educator and consultant for various NGOs and institutions. His work is premised on art, healing, solidarity, peace, conflict transformation and human dignity issues. Raïs work also as freelance journalist based in Trondheim, Norway. You can reach him at rais.boneza@gmail.com. http://www.raisnezaboneza.no
Tags: Culture of Peace, Human Rights, Literature, Poetry, Reviews
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 30 Sep 2024.
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