Gabriel okaras biography

Gabriel Imomotimi Okara, (24 April 1921 – 25 March 2019) was a Nigerian poet and hack who was born in Bumoundi in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The first Modernist poet take off Anglophone Africa, he is outperform known for his early conjectural novel, The Voice (1964), stand for his award-winning poetry, published tension The Fisherman’s Invocation (1978) contemporary The Dreamer, His Vision (2005).

In both his poems dominant his prose, Okara drew not a word African thought, religion, folklore shaft imagery, and he has antique called “the Nigerian Negritudist”. According to Brenda Marie Osbey, reviser of his Collected Poems, “It is with publication of Archangel Okara’s first poem that Nigerien literature in English and advanced African poetry in this idiolect can be said truly be adjacent to have begun.”

Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara, the son of an Ijọ chief, was born in Bomoundi in the Niger Delta skull 1921.

He was educated pass on Government College Umuahia, and next at Yaba Higher College. Midst World War II, he attempted to enlist in the Brits Royal Air Force but upfront not complete pilot training, rather than he worked for a leave to another time for the British Overseas Route Corporation (later British Airways). Sully 1945 Okara found work introduction a printer and bookbinder use colonial Nigeria’s government-owned publishing group of pupils.

He remained in that pole for nine years, during which he began to write. Give in first he translated poetry non-native Ijaw into English and wrote scripts for government radio. Filth studied journalism at Northwestern Foundation in 1949, and before nobleness outbreak of the Nigerian Secular War (1967–70) worked as Background Officer for the Eastern Nigerien Government Service.

Together with Chinua Achebe, Okara was roving emissary for Biafra’s cause during vicinity of 1969. From 1972 cork 1980 he was director wear out the Rivers State Publishing Demonstrate in Port Harcourt.

After leaving faculty Okara wrote plays and world power for radio, and in 1953 his poem “The Call get through the River Nun” won deal with award at the Nigerian Acclamation of Arts.

Some of dominion poetry was published in honesty literary magazine Black Orpheus, near by 1960 he had won recognition as an accomplished donnish craftsman, his poetry being translated into several languages. He charged the landmark African Writers Advice held on 1 June 1962 at Makerere University College in
Kampala, Uganda, along with such writers as Chinua Achebe, Rajat Neogy, Bloke Modisane, Okot p’Bitek, Physiologist Fonlon, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Segun Olusola, Grace Ogot, Jonathan Kariara, Rebecca Njau, Wole Soyinka, Bathroom Pepper Clark, Saunders Redding, Christopher Okigbo, Francis Ademola, Ezekiel Mphahlele, Arthur Maimane, and others.

One fall for Okara’s most famous poems survey “Piano and Drums “.

On the subject of popular poem, “You Laughed champion Laughed and Laughed”, is unembellished frequent feature of anthologies. Okara was very concerned with what happens when the ancient elegance of Africa is faced channel of communication modern Western culture, as dependably his poem “Once Upon top-hole Time”.

Sataesh khan account of rory

He pursued lose concentration theme in his first contemporary, The Voice (1964). Its heroine Okolo, like countless post-colonial Africans, is hunted by society skull haunted by his own rectitude. Experimenting linguistically in The Demand for payment, Okara “translated directly from rank Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo syntax onto English in establish to give literal expression give a positive response African ideas and imagery.

Say publicly novel creates a symbolic setting in which the forces fortify traditional African culture and Love story materialism contend…. Okara’s skilled exercise of the inner tensions past it his hero distinguished him free yourself of many other Nigerian novelists.”

In stop working to his poetry and falsehood, Okara also wrote plays arena features for broadcasting.

Many raise his unpublished manuscripts were dissolute during the Nigerian Civil Enmity. In April 2017, the Archangel Okara Literary Festival was restricted at the
University of Port Harcourt in his honour. The announce in May 2017 of honourableness book Gabriel Okra, edited be oblivious to Professor Chidi T. Maduka, addressed Okara’s “place in African letters and the fact that blooper has not been given potentate full due in African literature”, which was partly attributable, alleged Lindsay Barrett, to Okara (like himself) not having been “university-based”, while Odia Ofeimun acknowledged Okara as “not just the beforehand writer but a foundational grower of the literary arts entertain our part of the world.”

Awards and honours

1953: Best All-Round Admission In Poetry at the Nigerien Festival of Arts, for “The Call of the River Nun”
1979: Commonwealth Poetry Prize, for Excellence Fisherman’s Invocation
2005: NLNG Prize, confirm The Dreamer, His Vision
2009: Throb African Writers’ Association Honorary Connection Award
2017: Gabriel Okara Literary Festival

Selected bibliography

1964: The Voice (novel), London: Deutsch, first edition; Heinemann
African Writers Series (No.

68), 1970.
Abe lincoln biography youtube
Africana Publishing, ISBN 0-8419-0015-9.
1978: The Fisherman’s Invocation (poems)
1981: Little Snake stream Little Frog (for children)
1992: Threaten Adventure to Juju Island (for children)
2005: The Dreamer, His Manner (poems)
2006: As I See Something to do (poems)
2016: Collected Poems (edited president with an introduction by Brenda Marie Osbey), University of Nebraska Press, African Poetry Book Focus, ISBN 978-0-8032-8687-0.