Creole Language

A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that has originated from a pidgin language that has been nativized (that is, acquired by children). The vocabulary of a creole language consists of cognates from the parent languages, though there are often clear phonetic and semantic shifts. On the other hand, the grammar often has original features but may differ substantially from those of the parent languages. Most often, the vocabulary comes from the dominant group and the grammar from the subordinate group, where such stratification exists. For example, Jamaican Creole features largely English words superimposed on West African grammar.

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1360221327

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1360221327

This is a thesis about Creole Language

http://www.scss.tcd.ie/undergraduate/bacsll/bacsll_web/cfoy0607.pdf

The Pacific

Literature in the Pacific ranges from storytelling to epic poetry and genealogies, oratory, songs, and drama. Literacy, introduced by missionaries in the Nineteenth Century, spread fairly quickly and many South Pacific languages were soon written.

In 1960, perhaps the first novel by South Pacific Island writers was published, Makutu, by the Cook Islanders Tom and Lydia Davis. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the first works of a number of writers: short stories by Fiji’s Raymond Pillai and Subramani and Tonga’s Epeli Hau’ofa; poems by Konai Helu Thaman, of Tonga, and Fiji’s Pio Manoa (who also often writes in Fijian); and short stories, poems and, in 1973, the novel Sons for the Return Home, by the Samoan Albert Wendt, of all South Pacific writers perhaps the best known outside the region.

But it was the establishment of the two regional universities, the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in 1966 and the University of the South Pacific (USP) in 1968, which provided a focus and a forum for writers and other artists and encouraged the development and publication of creative writing, through courses, workshops, regional conferences and the establishment of literary journals.

http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/paclangunit/English_South_Pacific.htm

Hawaiian Creole English (HCE)

Stephen Sumida was one of the first contributors to local literature on Asian American literature in Hawai'i. Another local literature writer is Darrell Lum. Bamboo Ridge Press published a handful of journals by Lum and Sumida about local literature and writings in Pidgin. Initially HCE was not seen as an academic or artistic expression. It was mostly seen in popular songs and comic entertainment. After World War II, local writers started to rely more on pidgin to convey their messages. HCE is also used in drama. The University of Hawai'i at Manoa has the only drama department that is dedicated to producing local plays. Early on in literature and dialogs used, the orthography used was in closer relation to Standard English. Slowly over time writers started using more phonetic spelled versions of the pidgin words and syntax of pidgin.

http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Hawaiian_creole_English

In recent years, writers from Hawai’i have written poems, short stories, and other works in Pidgin. This list included well-known Hawai’i authors such as Kent Bowman, James Grant Benton, Lois-Ann Yamanaka and Lee Tonouchi. A Pidgin translation of the New Testament (called Da Jesus Book) has also been created, as has an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What You Will, titled in Pidgin "Twelf' Night, or Whateva."

Several theater companies in Hawai’i produce plays written and performed in Pidgin. The most notable of these companies is Kumu Kahua Theater.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Pidgin

LEE TONOUCHI

A little of his biography:

http://www.transitionhawaii.com/pathways/arts_and_communications/lee_tonouchi

Article:

Da Pidgin Guerrilla : Does the fate of Hawaiian Creole English lie in the hands of Lee Tonouchi?

http://www.honoluluweekly.com/archives/coverstory%20%202002/11-13-02%20Pidgin/11-13-02%20Pidgin.html

COLLOQUIUM ON "CREOLE LITERATURE”

http://www.hawaii.edu/spcl03/abstracts-literature.htm

A PARADISE LOST: MAPPING CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE FROM HAWAI’I

By Claudia Rapp

‘This study is the first to situate contemporary literature from Hawai’i in a comprehensive framework of current theoretical background, comparative surveys (…), and Hawaii’s literary history. From a German or even a European perspective, it is the first Ph. D. dissertation to deal with Hawaii’s literary production at all. Its main thesis is that the literature resulting from the islands’ history, the pervasive outside representation, and the unique multicultural setup of the population is fundamentally a Local one, place-bound, ethnicity-aware, expressed in a variety of linguistic choices. Contemporary literature from Hawai’i is an exploration of Local identity, providing a multitude of answers to the question “What is a Hawaiian?”(…)’

http://www.ub.uni-konstanz.de/kops/volltexte/2007/3265/pdf/Rapp_Diss.pdf

Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea

Tok Pisin is an English-lexicon pidgin/creole language spoken in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the three official languages of this nation with nearly 800 languages.

http://roberteklund.info/PNG-TokPisin.htm

AN INFORMATIVE COMIC STRIP ON MALARIA

http://roberteklund.info/PNG-TokPisin.htm

AVE, MARIA

Ave, Maria, yu pulap long grasia. Lord, i stap long yu. Ol i onaim yu moa long ol meri, na ol i onaim Jisas, Em Pikinini bilong bel bilong yu. Santu Maria, Mama bilong God, pre bilong helpim mipela manmeri bilong sin, nau na long taim milpela i dai. Amen.

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/flhm01.html#tokpisin

Pijin in the Solomon Island

Pijin is also referred to as Kanaka and is a language spoken in the Solomon Islands. It is closely related to Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea and Bislama of Vanuatu.

It had 24,390 speakers in 1999 (as first language).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pijin_language

English is the official language of the Solomons, but Pijin is spoken by about half the population. In the early 1900s, copra plantations were established. The labourers employed there had also worked in Queensland and FIJI, where they had used pidgin English. The local variety stabilized early and several religious missions adopted it for use, though it never gained the status of Tok Pisin or BISLAMA.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-SOLOMONISLANDSPIDGINNGLSH.html

Vanuatu

Bislama is a creole language, one of the official languages of Vanuatu. It is the first language of many of the "Urban ni-Vanuatu" (those who live in Port Vila and Luganville), and the second language of the rest of the country's residents.

The longest written work in Bislama is the recently completed Bible.

Luke 2:6-7:

"Tufala i stap yet long Betlehem, nao i kam kasem stret taem blong Meri i bonem pikinini. Nao hem i bonem fasbon pikinin blong hem we hem i boe. Hem i kavremap gud long kaliko, nao i putum hem i slip long wan bokis we oltaim ol man ol i stap putum gras long hem, blong ol anamol ol i kakae. Tufala i mekem olsem, from we long hotel, i no gat ples blong tufala i stap."

NATIONAL ANTHEM: YUMI, YUMI, YUMI

It was written and composed by François Vincent Ayssav (born 1955) and adopted in 1980.

BISLAMA WORDS CHORUS: Yumi, Yumi, yumi i glad long talem se Yumi, yumi, yumi ol man blong Vanuatu God i givim ples ya long yumi, Yumi glat tumas long hem, Yumi strong mo yumi fri long hem, Yumi brata evriwan! CHORUS Plante fasin blong bifo i stap, Plante fasin blong tedei, Be yumi i olsem wan nomo, Hemia fasin blong yumi! CHORUS Yumi save plante wok i stap, Long ol aelan blong yumi, God i helpem yumi evriwan, Hem i papa blong yumi, CHORUS

ENGLISH TRANSLATION CHORUS: We, (We, We) are happy to proclaim We, (We, We) are the People of Vanuatu! God has given us this land; This gives us great cause for rejoicing. We are strong, we are free in this land; We are all brothers. CHORUS We have many traditions And we are finding new ways. Now we shall be one Person, We shall be united for ever. CHORUS We know there is much work to be done On all our islands. God helps all of us, He is our father, CHORUS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bislama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumi,_Yumi,_Yumi

Australian Kriol

Kriol, an Australian Creole language developed out of contact between European settlers and the indigenous people in the northern regions of Australia, is presently spoken by 30,000 people across the Top End.

http://www.kriol.info/kriol_bible_media_centre.php

PRESS RELEASE:

http://www.kriol.info/E44637KriolBibleLaunch1.pdf

Kriol is a relatively new Aboriginal language spoken by more than 15,000 Aborigines in the north of Australia mainly in pastoral districts from western Queensland to the coast of western Australia.

Although Kriol is widely spoken, its literal translation is minimal, with the exception of the Bible. This means that literacy rates of Kriol are quite low. Apart from practical implications of this, especially if English literacy is also low (i.e. written communication, education opportunities), it means that traditional stories are either not recorded in written form, or the Ngukurr people must rely on texts from Barunga, which may lessen the identity distinction between the two groups. However, Aboriginal cultures are not traditionally rooted in written records, so the lack of written versions of texts may be a function of the oral nature of Aboriginal storytelling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Kriol_language

THE FIRST BIBLE IN KRIOL – KRIOL BAIBUL

On May 5, 2007, the first complete edition of the Bible in the Kriol language was officially launched at Katherine in the Northern Territory. Translation took over 29 years, and was undertaken by a team of native Kriol speakers led by Rev. Canon Gumbuli Wurrumara and specialists from the Society for Australian Indigenous Languages. The Kriol Bible is the first complete edition of the Bible in any indigenous Australian language. The publication was a joint venture of The Bible Society, Lutheran Bible Translators, The Church Missionary Society, the Anglican Church, Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Australian Society of Indigenous Languages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Kriol_language

Children celebrating the dedication of the Kriol Baibul

http://www.kriol.info/launch_photos.php

For the first time, the old and new Testaments are now available to aboriginal people thanks to a dedicated group of people who have spent 27 years on the translations project.

The Kriol project stalled after the publication of the Kriol New Testament with 14 Old Testament books in 1991, but the Reverend Canon Gumbuli Wurrumara challenged indigenous Kriol speakers in 1993 to complete the project themselves.

http://www.kriol.info/E44637KriolBibleLaunch1.pdf

http://www.kriol.info/E44637KriolBibleLaunch2.pdf

KRIOL – MATHEW 1 - 3

http://www.kriol.info/MatthewKriol.pdf

http://www.kriol.info/LordsPrayerKriol.pdf

http://www.kriol.info/download.php

Bahamas

English is their official language. Although, you might hear Bahamian English. According to the speakers it’s a mixture of Queen’s diction, African influence and island dialect. The “h” is often dropped, so it sounds like “ouse” for “house” or “t’anks” for “thanks.”

The cultures of the Bahamian and Gullah share a great story-telling tradition, and many of the themes and motifs suggest a common African past.

Bahamian Legend

The Islands Of The Bahamas, rich in history and tradition, has its share of legends and folklore. Early inhabitants brought some of these beliefs with them when they settled on the islands. Other myths sprang from natural phenomena found in the environment. Whatever their origin, these legends are part of The Islands Of The Bahamas.

http://www.bahamasgateway.com/legends.htm
http://www.bahamas4u.com/bahamasfolktales.html


If you want to understand a little bit about Bahamian creole before reading its literature, visit the following website, it has a brief explanation why the Bahamian is a creole, and a little about the language.

http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/BNCCde/bahamas/conference/papers/McPhee.html

Gullah stories

Joel Chandler Harris

He was an American journalist, fiction writer, folklorist,  recorded many Brer Rabbit stories from the African-American oral tradition and revolutionized children's literature in the process.

Gullah will live on with the general public as the language of Uncle Remus in Joel Chandler Harris's Bre'r Rabbit tales.

http://www.uncleremus.com/

In this website you can find 35 complete stories, songs, sayings and proverbs.

Christmas Play-Song

HI my rinktum! Black gal sweet, Same like goodies w’at do w’ito folks oat; Ho my Riley! don’t you tako’n tell ’or name, En den of sumpin’ happen you won’t ketch do blame; Hi my rinktum! bettor tako’n hide yo’ plum; Joree don’t holler eve’y time he fine a wum. Den it’s hi my rinktum! Don’t git no udder man; En it’s ho my Riley! Fetch out Miss Dilsey Ann!  Ho my Riley! Yaller gal fine; She may be yone but she oughter be mine! Hi my rinktum! Lemme git by, En see w’at she mean by de cut or dat eye! Ho my Riley! bettor shot dat do’— Do w’ite folks ’ll bloovo we or t’arin up do flo’.  Den it’s ho my Riley! Come a siftin’ up ter me! En it’s hi my rinktum! Dis do way tor twis’ yo’ knee!  Hi my rinktum! Ain’t do eas’ gittin’ red? Do squinch owl shiver like he wanter go ter bed; Ho my Riley! but do gals en do boys, Des now gittin’ so doy kin sorter make a noise. Hi my rinktum! lot do yallor gal lone; Niggors don’t hankerarter sody in do pone. Den it’s hi my rinktum! Better try anudder plan; An’ it’s ho my Riley! Trot out Miss Dilsey Ann!  Ho my Riley! In do happy Chrismus’ time Do niggers shake der cloze a huntin’ for a dime. Hi my rinktum! En den dey shake der feet, En greaze derse’f wid de good ham meat. Ho my Riley! dey oat en dey cram, En bimoby ole Miss ’ll be a sendin’ out de dram. Don it’s ho my Riley! You hear dat, Sam! En it’s hi my rinktum! Be a sendin’ out do dram!

Gullah

Gullah  was developed among Africans as a way to communicate with people from other  tribes and Europeans. African-American scholar Lorenzo Dow Turner studied Gullah on the Sea Islands. He determined that this language is made up of English and over 4,000 words from many different African languages.

As part of their culture they tell their story through storytelling, which is a way to  share their folklore and history. The storytellers often perform folktales that feature animals as the main characters and get the audience involved by asking them to repeat words.

 http://www.knowitall.org/gullahnet/gullah/storytelling/index.cfm

The link above is very interesting and you can hear some stories told by Aunt Pearlie Sue!

Gullah New Testment

As every language has the bible translation, the Gullah is no exception!

In this website you have the translation of the Bible to the Gullah language.

 It may be a little hard to understand in the beginning but keep reading that it gets easier!

It is also very easy to select the part you want to read as it has a very simple navigation system.

http://www.gullahbible.com/

Still about GULLAH

If you want to read some books of Gullah see this website.

http://www.netpro1000.com/sites/lsimmons/gullah_books_6502.asp

It has a extensive list of books, about Gullah literature, the list goes from children´s stories to a bibliography of Gullah.

Jamaican Literature

    As English is the official language, most Jamaican literature is written in English. One of its most known writers is Claude McKay.

     McKay is influenced by the fight for human rights and the Black People liberation, with strong poems flirting with the communism, although McKay himself never made of any party. One of his most emblematic poem is "If We Must Die":


If We Must Die
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!


LINKS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_McKay
            http://www.poemhunter.com/claude-mckay/poems/

     McKay was one of the first authors to open space to Jamaican Literature. Other came such as Thomas MacDermott who edited Becka's Bukra Baby, a literary magazine with lower prices in order to support national writers.

LINKS: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00078556

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_MacDermot

     Lately, the patois written forms are being produced in literature such as in the collection of poems Inna Mi Heart:

READY FI LOVE YUH

- by Joan Andrea Hutchinson ©2007

Mi no come offa no high table
Mi no have no university degree
Mi no boasy and pretentious bout life
But what yuh see is me
But yuh see mi … mi check fi yuh

Mi kyaan carry yuh  go  a no expensive spot
Mi kyaan stomach fancy food
Mi kyaan tek yuh hypocrite kin teet friend dem
But wah mi can do is treat yuh good
An yuh see mi … mi will love yuh right

Unlike mi, yuh have gold spoon inna yuh mout
Yuh no short a nothing
But from wah mi see, yuh look like yuh coulda do
Wid a lickle loving
So see mi yah … ready fi kill yuh wid love

YUH MI WAAN FI DEH WID
- by Joan Andrea Hutchinson ©2007

Even  if yuh put on fifty pound
Even if yuh sick an mawga down
Even if yuh bleach di black fi fayva brown
A yuh  mi waan fi deh wid

Even if yuh foot shape like afoo yam
An yuh hand look like song of di banana man
Even if yuh claim rasta but a quietly lick di ham
A yuh mi waan fid eh wid

So even doah yuh behaving like a clown
An yuh name a call all over town
A yuh mi still waan fi be around
A yuh mi waan fi deh wid

NO ROSES NO POSES
- by Joan Andrea Hutchinson ©2007

Fi di whole year yuh treat mi floops
Den braps, mi get red roses
Yuh think say chocolate an wine can compensate
Mi no waan no valentine poses

Mi no waan no dinner a no fancy restaurant
Keep yuh red an white teddy bear
Unless yuh a go love an treat mi good
Every day of di year

Love a one full time wuck, more dan nine to five
A no just di one day poses
So if mi kyaan get consistent love from yuh
Keep yuh wine an roses

THUG NO SHOW LOVE
- by Joan Andrea Hutchinson ©2007

Baby mi love yuh and yuh done well and know
But a guy can’t too meck him feelings show
Yuh feel mi love and dat suppose to enough
But man a man and man haffie flex tough
So no expect mi fi come wid no lovey dovey love
Cause man a thug, an thug no show love

Mi will tidy house an help yuh wash plate
Change baby diaper, iron cook an bake
Wash yuh hair an massage yuh body all night long
Hug up an dance like grandpa when mi hear love song
But outa street mi no eena di smoochie smoochie love
For man a thug, an thug no show love

Most people no know say mi have a romantic side
Mi will give yuh sweet an tender loving till yuh clide
At home mi will bow, cause yuh control di remote
An mi ready fi go front a parson go teck  oath
But John Public no haffie know  bout mi romantic love
For man a thug … an thug no show love

KIDNAP
- by Joan Andrea Hutchinson ©2007

Dem say kidnapper and thief a criminal
An criminal go to jail
But mi think if one day mi kidnap yuh
Love an passion gwine prevail

When mi thief yuh way, yuh mighta fight at  first
But when mi ketch yuh in di sack
An show yuh how good loving go
Yuh nah go waan go back

Yuh a go waan mi an beg mi no fi stop
An heng on pon mi tight
Yuh a go waan lay down inna mi bed
From night until daylight

When mi finally release yuh mi already know
Di note yuh a go send
‘Why yuh tecking sooo long
Fi kidnap mi again?”

GI MI DI BLIGH
- by Joan Andrea Hutchinson ©2007

A long time mi a watch yuh, but mi don’t know
What fi say or how fi do
So slow down lickle an gi mi a chance
Meck mi chat to yuh

Mi nuh have  no bag a lyrics fi fling down
Mi clueless bout romance
But wah mi really waan fi say to yuh is
Just gi mi a chance

A chance fi ‘deh’ an create  union
Fi fill yuh life wid happiness
Fi love yuh an treat yuh like royalty
Yuh deserve di very best

Mi a go show yuh  things yuh never know
Believe mi, mi nah stop try
So if yuh ready fi a bonify ol fashion love
Do … gi mi di bligh

LINKS: http://www.jamaicans.com/news/announcements/Inna.shtml

    Also in music we have a great influence od the Patois, such as in Bob Marley's Trenchtown Rock:

You grooving Kingston 12, grooving, Kingston 12
Grooving woe, woe, it's Kingston 12
Grooving it's Kingston 12
No want you fe galang so,
No want you fe galang so
You want come cold I up
But you can't come cold I up
Cause I'm grooving, yes I'm grooving

LINKS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziQSNGFzlp4&feature=fvst

OUTROS LINKS: http://www.jamaicanliterature.com/

                             http://www.jamaicans.com/index.shtml

Jamaican Patois in in the Action

Here are a few interesting links that portray the use of Jamaican Patois:

JAMAICAN PATOIS
Dr Seuss's ABC read in Jamaican Patois:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN3ZadHV8E8

Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham read in Jamaican Patois:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zjtlLKPEWg

Jamaican Patois Audio Dictionary:

http://www.jamaicans.com/dictionary/template.php?t=display

RASTAFARI

Rastafari Speech by Bob Marley in No Woman No Cry, in Portland, 1978:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVQwxSM0pQU

Peter Tosh's speech at the One Love Peace Concert 1978

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwZnX5JB8q4

Jamaican Patois and Rastafarian Speech (Rasta Talk)

• Jamaican Patois

      Jamaican Patois, as most creole black languages, was originated from the contact of diffrent tribe slaves to their master (also from various places with English as language). As a variety deriving from pidgins, it incorporated the basic structure of English intermixed with a different phonological and phonetic production which can be seen sometimes as "the" greatest difference from English, confusing most people who is in touch with Jamaican culture, such as in music and poetry, who perceives just a different accent. 

       However,  there are more differences than what appears, such in grammar and lexicon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_patois

•  Rastafarian Speech (Rasta Talk)

       Rastafarian Speech or Rasta Talk is actually a variety from the Jamaican Patois, being a religious language, with the purpose to sustain the Rastafari philosophies, it has its most peculiar charachteristic in the lexicon, for they choose to use different words in place of others considered ideologically subservient. They consider English as a colonial language, so they chose the use of words such as I always and never Me, in order to preserve the power of subjectivity of those.
http://thslone.tripod.com/rasta-bibliography.html#jc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarian_vocabulary

Haitian Creole Literature

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_literature

http://heathermueller.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/creole-poetry-from-haiti/

"As I dug into the Creole language, word by word, I discovered for the first time that a language is actually a worldview. Syntax and vocabulary are not only tools for communication, but for organizing and understanding the world that surrounds us. The moment that I really understood this was when I looked up the word “poverty” in my Creole-English dictionary and found that it was also the word for “hollow tin can.” The power of this image is breathtaking, and one that belongs solely to Creole".    Merete Mueller

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/539.html

Bibliographical list on the topic, all works are from Emmanuel Védrine, “a poet, an educator, who is pioneering a work for the development and academic promotion of the Creole language and culture”.

Krio

Krio is the lingua franca and national language actually spoken in Sierra Leone. The Krio language is spoken by 97% of the population and unites all the various ethnic groups in the country, epecially in trade and social interaction. Krio is the first language of communication among Sierra Leoneans both at home and abroad. It is the mother tongue of the Creoles of Sierra Leone or Krios; despite its size, the English language is the official language of Sierra Leone, while Krio does not have the same status 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krio_language
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=kri

Sierra Leonean poetry started in the late 19th century with poems published in English and the lingua franca Krio in The Sierra Leone Weekly News, amongst the first newspapers to be established in the colony in 1860.(...)

Poems were sometimes written by settlers, mostly Europeans, who had migrated into the country. The first Krio poems appeared in the issue of The Sierra Leone Weekly News of Saturday April 21st 1881. Others appeared in the issue of June 23rd 1888 and July 1907. Though most poems were written by non-Sierra Leoneans, they served as sources of inspiration to the educated Sierra Leoneas who thus became anxious to prove that they were as competent poets as their European counterparts. Poems were written usually in regular patterns of feet, lines and rhyme schemes as was the vogue then. Consequently there was an upsurge in the publication of poems in the newspapers.This practice continued for quite a long time, according to Leo Spitzer's The Creoles of Sierra Leone which contains a whole range of such poems.

Then came  Gladys Casely-Hayford and Thomas Decker who were writing poems in Krio. Gladys Casely-Hayford's first selection of published poems was titled in Krio Take um so (1948). In 1948 three Krio poems were published by Thomas Decker. These were 'Plasas','Yesterday, Tiday en Tumara', 'Slip Gud'.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Sierra-Leonean-Poetry---Its-Emergence-and-Features-As-it-Was-Struggling-to-Take-Shape&id=1054390

Part of the poem "Take um so"


http://books.google.com.br/books?id=SRdbccKzXSQC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=%22Take+um+so+Gladys+Casely-Hayford%22&source=bl&ots=uU1FN1uVZd&sig=UqDoku482pjsL2TCXnldhmVczXo&hl=pt-BR&ei=CkzITK72E4Ks8Aa8rpgt&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false

This webpage was made by Gladys Casely-Hayford mother:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/casely/profile.htm

Poetry in Krio: Pati Gbos Gbos

Snapshot: Pati Gbos Gbos

By Les Rickford, USA.

so wi dae na di pati oh
mi tinap
mi man lap
na im wan oda bra grap
bigin mek yap yap

dem bonga raray man vibes
wey dem kin don chak
tae i trifut imsef
trowe im respap
doti mi nyu trosis
wey ah buy na di Gap

ah noh lef am gi am oh
ah pak am slap
i bokul mi
ah ondaswet am en swip am
i fodom bap

others poems

http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/spip.php?article5453

In 2007, work was completed on an unsanctioned, dubbed Krio version of Franco Zeffirelli's 1977 film Jesus of Nazareth The dubs were recorded by a team of over 14 native Krio speakers, over a period of 9 months in the Lungi region of Sierra Leone. The film aired on ABC-TV and a limited run of 300 copies were produced, which were mostly sold in Lungi and Freetown

Just out of curiosity, some proverbs in Krio
http://www.sierra-leone.org/Krio-Proverbs.html