Candles in November

Publication Instance Details #486

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	Death Penalty/Unlawful Detention/Incarceration State Violence HR & Environment
Irish Context	Other Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned
Languages	English
Original Language	Irish
Original Poem	Coinnle Samhna
Original Author	Gréagóir Ó Dúill
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	in memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogani hanged in Nigeria 10 November 1995
Notes	This poem was written in commemoration of Ken Sara-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni tribe who were hung in Nigeria in 1955. Ken Sara-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni tribe, an ethnic minority in Nigeria. He was also a member of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People: the native lands of the Ogoni people had been pillaged for crude oil, especially by the Dutch Shell Oil company. He was executed by the Nigerian government after accusations of his having murdered other Ogoni elders. Shell had bribed the witnesses of these alleged murders, however. This poem appears to reflect upon the memorial services for the executed men outside the Nigerian embassies, in Ireland in this case, and the efforts of the staff to cover up the commemorations by removing all the candles left behind by protesters. However, this is ineffective as the smoke of the candles has been left on the walls - the crimes of the Nigerian government cannot be hidden away.