Jane Okot p’Bitek Langoya releases excellent poetry book

• Title: Song of Lacica

• Author: Jane Okot P’ Bitek Langoya

• Cost: 40,000 UGX

• Pages: 163

• Availability: FEMRITE Bookshop

• Published: 2026

Jane Okot P’ Bitek Langoya emulates her late father’s poetic journey with her own literary masterpiece, Song of Lacica. Her father, as you might have guessed, is the late Okot p'Bitek (1931–1982). He was a world-renowned Ugandan poet and scholar who revolutionized African literature by blending traditional oral traditions with modern forms. He is most famous for his epic poem Song of Lawino (1966), which critiques the loss of African identity in the face of Westernization.

Ms Langoya’s epic poem was originally written in English and will be translated into Acholi/Luo. It alsofunctions as a modern epic by capturing the cultural identity and struggles of the Acholi people against Westernization, rather than focusing on mythical heroes as epics like the Iliad have done. To do so, the author cleaves to the song school tradition of poetry.

To be clear, the song school tradition was created by Okot p'Bitek. It is a literary movement officially known as the East African Song School or the Okot School of poetry. Established with the 1966 publication of his masterpiece, Song of Lawino, it revolutionized African literature by moving away from European styles toward indigenous forms. It continues to do so with p’Bitek’s daughter.

Based on a true story, Song of Lacica is a powerful, soul-stirring poem that reaches deep into memory, grief, and hope. Throughout this page-turner, the author brings to life the voice of Lacica, a wise grandmother who recalls an ancient betrayal, the killing of Rwot Oringamoi, which shook her people and continues to haunt generations. From this story of pain and loss comes a wider reflection on family, leadership, unity, and the traditions that once held communities together.

This poem cannot just be read quietly. It is to heard, felt, and remembered. Its lines echo the rhyme of song and oral storytelling, carrying proverbs, prayers, and chants that speak, nay, sing across time.

With each verse, Langoya calls us to look honestly at the ways culture is being eroded, when children are neglected, ancestral land is sold, or the wisdom of the elders is ignored. Yet the lament, in this epic, also carries a yearning for renewal, for healing, and for the rediscovery of values that give life meaning.

What makes this work so compelling is the way it bridges the old and new. It does so ever so eloquently and singularly while honoring the poetic tradition by her father. In so doing, Langoya’s voice makes its own unique contribution to poetry with velvety tenderness and lyrical Oomph.

It also carries life-enhancing lessons which are distinctly her own. This is why Songs of Lacica is also a didactic poem, specifically designed to instruct, teaching moral, philosophical, religious, or practical lessons. It uses clear language, structured narratives, and sometimes allegory to convey a direct message or purpose to the reader. It may also be classified asinstructional poetry, moral verse, educational poetry, or preceptive poetry.

It is also political poetry, inviting us to remember who we are and to choose a future rooted in dignity and unity, regardless of where one comes from or was born.

Its universal message will strike a hopeful note everywhere.  It’s sufferings, however, are its own. Through the cultural resistance it promotes, we are reminded of the Acholi proverb popularized by her father in the poem Song of Lawino: Do not uproot the pumpkin in the old homestead.

Sadly, this proverb is ignored and thus: “We are in a period of mourning. Death has fallen upon our homestead. We used to live as one people; we had generations in one homestead: Great grandparents, grandparents and parents. Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, all living together in one homestead in harmony,” writes the author. The slaying of the Rwot is the uprooting of the pumpkin in the old homestead, something that wreaks havoc in the Lukaka, people of the affected clan. It is indeed an epic tale, one that renders the book “unputdownable”.

As renowned Ugandan poet Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva put it: Song of Lacica is a reminder that monologues retain their richness and that imagery drawn from historical reference and cultural anecdotes are a necessity in appreciating various forms of literature.”