“Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.”

“Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.”

“History describes what has happened, poetry what might. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and serious than history; for poetry speaks of what is universal, history of what is particular.”

“And after all, our mythology may be much nearer to literal truth than we suppose.”

“Our enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves.”

“History buried becomes history repeated. A whole generation of Africans have been denied the truth of their own history, and so we do not really know ourselves, or our countries. Reclaiming those erased or hidden histories is vital political and creative work, and is central to my purpose as a writer.”