The Desert Shore offers a rich sampling of writings from the Sahel zone of West Africa, especially Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Selections include translations of Tuareg poet Hawad ("Anarchy"s Delirious Trek"), Fulani author Al Hajj Sekou Tall ("Origins of the Fulani"), Mossi poet Titinga Pacere ("Drum Poem for the Sahel"), and the slain Burkinabe writer Norbert Zongo ("The Mobutuization of Burkina Faso"). This text also includes contextualizing essays from scholars such as Joseph Pare, Salou Sanaka, Albert Ouedraogo, Paul Lovejoy, Michel Tinguiri, Lisa McNee, Georg Gugelberger, and Christopher Wise.