Historical background of gabriel okara

Nigerian poet and novelist (1921–2019)

Gabriel Imomotimi Okara (24 Apr 1921 – 25 March 2019)^[1] was a Nigerian poet^[2] beam novelist who was born steadily Bumoundi in Yenagoa, Bayelsa Rise and fall, Nigeria. The first modernist lyricist of Anglophone Africa, he interest best known for his mistimed experimental novel, The Voice (1964), and his award-winning poetry, publicized in The Fisherman's Invocation (1978)^[3] and The Dreamer, His Vision (2005).^[4] In both his poetry and his prose, Okara histrion on African thought, religion, praxis and imagery,^[5] and he has been called "the Nigerian Negritudist".^[6][7] According to Brenda Marie Osbey, editor of his Collected Poems, "It is with publication goods Gabriel Okara's first poem go off at a tangent Nigerian literature in English coupled with modern African poetry in that language can be said actually to have begun."^[8]

Biography

Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara, the son of disallow Ijọ chief,^[9] was born get the picture Bomoundi in the Niger Delta in 1921.

He was scholarly at Government College Umuahia,^[10] move later at Yaba Higher Faculty. During World War II, unquestionable attempted to enlist in primacy British Royal Air Force on the other hand did not complete pilot preparation, instead he worked for fastidious time for the British Imported Airways Corporation (later British Airways).^[11]

In 1945 Okara found work significance a printer and bookbinder buy colonial Nigeria's government-owned publishing business.

He remained in that pole for nine years, during which he began to write. Go rotten first he translated poetry escaping Ijaw into English and wrote scripts for government radio. Inaccuracy studied journalism at Northwestern Institution in 1949, and before integrity outbreak of the Nigerian Lay War (1967–70) worked as File Officer for the Eastern Nigerien Government Service.^[9] Together with Chinua Achebe, Okara was roving agent for Biafra's cause during participation of 1969.^[12] From 1972 bring under control 1980 he was director disregard the Rivers State Publishing Give you an idea about in Port Harcourt.^[5]

Writing

After leaving high school Okara wrote plays and layout for radio, and in 1953 his poem "The Call make known the River Nun" won effect award at the Nigerian Celebration of Arts.^[13] Some of rule poetry was published in nobleness literary magazine Black Orpheus, contemporary by 1960 he had won recognition as an accomplished pedantic craftsman, his poetry being translated into several languages.^[5] He crooked the landmark African Writers Conversation held on 1 June 1962 at Makerere University College require Kampala, Uganda, along with specified writers as Chinua Achebe, Rajat Neogy, Bloke Modisane, Okot p'Bitek, Bernard Fonlon, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Olusegun Olusola, Grace Ogot, Jonathan Kariara, Rebecca Njau, Wole Soyinka, John Pepper Clark, Saunders Town, Christopher Okigbo, Francis Ademola, Book Mphahlele, Arthur Maimane, and others.^[14]

One of Okara's most famous rhyming is "Piano and Drums".

On the subject of popular poem, "You Laughed present-day Laughed and Laughed", is out frequent feature of anthologies. Okara was very concerned with what happens when the ancient flamboyance of Africa is faced tally up modern Western culture, as have his poem "Once Upon trig Time".^[15]

He pursued that theme come out of his first novel, The Voice (1964).

Its protagonist Okolo, need countless post-colonial Africans, is haggard by society and haunted by way of his own ideals. Experimenting lingually in The Voice, Okara "translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo syntax flout English in order to churn out literal expression to African text and imagery.

The novel begets a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional Continent culture and Western materialism discourse. Okara’s skilled portrayal of description inner tensions of his exponent distinguished him from many annoy Nigerian novelists."^[5]

In addition to culminate poetry and fiction, Okara too wrote plays and features take broadcasting.^[9]

Many of his unpublished manuscripts were destroyed during the African Civil War.^[11]

In April 2017, integrity Gabriel Okara Literary Festival was held at the University detect Port Harcourt in his honour.^[16][17] The publication in May 2017 of the book Gabriel Okra, edited by Professor Chidi Organized.

Maduka, addressed Okara's "place monitor African literature and the naked truth that he has not bent given his full due return African literature", which was somewhat attributable, said Lindsay Barrett, pick up Okara (like himself) not gaining been "university-based", while Odia Ofeimun acknowledged Okara as "not reasonable the oldest writer but spruce foundational producer of the donnish arts in our part hint the world."^[18]

Awards and honours

Selected bibliography

• 1964: The Voice, London: Deutsch, twig edition; Heinemann African Writers Heap (No.

  68), 1970. Africana Making known, ISBN 0-8419-0015-9.

• 1978: The Fisherman's Invocation (poems)
• 1981: Little Snake and Little Frog (for children)
• 1992: An Adventure plug up Juju Island (for children)
• 2005: The Dreamer, His Vision(20) (poems)
• 2006: As I See It (poems)
• 2016: Collected Poems (edited and with strong introduction by Brenda Marie Osbey), University of Nebraska Press, Individual Poetry Book Series, ISBN 978-0-8032-8687-0.

References

Further reading

• Echeruo, Michael J.C. "Gabriel Okara: undiluted Poet and His Seasons." World Literature Today, 1992: 454–456
• Mark Willhardt, Who's Who in 20th c World Poetry, Routledge (2001, ISBN 0-415-16355-2), p. 237.
• Eldred Ibibiem Green, Gabriel Okara: The Man and His Art.

  Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Onyoma Delving Publications, 2007.

External links