Books by Ba'bila Mutia

The Vacuum Chamber recounts the intriguing encounter between investigative journalist, Fondo and mysterious scientist, Dr Tanda Matanda, who heads an elusive Futuristic Institute of Science and Technology (FIST) where he carries out strange experiments in the Mendankwe mountains. Fondo eventually discovers that Dr Matanda's experiments reveal profound but dreadful insights on the question of life and death and indeed, the future of the country. A Handful of Earth details the unusual friendship between Veke Lucasi and Saddi Tegene, both enthralled by the affections of the school belle, Bridget Bijanga. Lucasi and Tegene's rivalry follows them through their adult life, climaxing in a brief romance and terrifying involvement with mystical forces. A Handful of Earth is intriguing, disturbing, and haunts the reader from the beginning to the end. Mutia is a master at weaving plot, creating suspense, and building petrifying horror.

The diverse voices in the poems in this collection are unified in the single voice of the omnipresent persona who appears to be searching for a collective voice, some kind of order or rhythm that would impose meaning to life. Reading the poems constitutes an individual journey. This poetic journey from Awakening that takes the reader to Moonlight Spells & Wreaths and leads her/him through Laments to the Epilogue is a continuous movement in the search for humanity's existence. As a metaphor of self-discovery, the poetic quest is both an expression of, and a search for mankind's elusive self-that single, unbroken umbilical cord that is firmly rooted in the African experience and identity.Ba'bila Mutia teaches oral and written literatures, creative writing, advanced writing and research methodology, at the University of Yaoundé I. His poetry and short stories have been featured in anthologies and reviews worldwide, and his work has been broadcast on the BBC. In June of 1993 Mutia was honoured by the Berlin Academy of Arts as special guest writer in an international writers' reading. He is the author of Whose Land? (Longman), Before This Time, Yesterday (Silex/Nouvelles du Sud) and "The Miracle" in the Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories.