These poems are all written in the Bamum script created by the famous King Ibrahim Njoya. The writing system went through several phases, beginning as a set of nearly 500 pictographic symbols that were eventually consolidated into an 80-character syllabary.

SAMUEL CALVIN GBETNKOM is a poet and codicologist with extensive knowledge of manuscripts written in Bamum, having worked on the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project housed in the Foumban Royal Palace. He wasn’t content to just study and archive manuscripts, however, and he saw creative potential in using the Bamum script to produce new, original literature, as a tool for creating work that captured diverse aspects of contemporary Bamum life.