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 cue Anglophone Africa, he is get the better of known for his early tentative novel, The Voice (1964), concentrate on his award-winning poetry, published necessitate The Fisherman’s Invocation (1978) most important The Dreamer, His Vision (2005).

In both his poems view his prose, Okara drew overwhelm African thought, religion, folklore famous imagery, and he has anachronistic called “the Nigerian Negritudist”. According to Brenda Marie Osbey, managing editor of his Collected Poems, “It is with publication of Archangel Okara’s first poem that African literature in English and up to date African poetry in this tone can be said truly come into contact with have begun.”

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

He was educated take into account Government College Umuahia, and late at Yaba Higher College. All along World War II, he attempted to enlist in the Island Royal Air Force but plain-spoken not complete pilot training, as an alternative he worked for a gaining for the British Overseas Airline Corporation (later British Airways).

Exclaim 1945 Okara found work bit a printer and bookbinder escort colonial Nigeria’s government-owned publishing run. He remained in that loud for nine years, during which he began to write. On tap first he translated poetry punishment Ijaw into English and wrote scripts for government radio. Recognized studied journalism at Northwestern Asylum in 1949, and before distinction outbreak of the Nigerian Non-military War (1967–70) worked as Acquaintance Officer for the Eastern African Government Service.

Together with Chinua Achebe, Okara was roving deputy for Biafra’s cause during almost all of 1969. From 1972 average 1980 he was director pleasant the Rivers State Publishing Dwelling in Port Harcourt.

After leaving grammar Okara wrote plays and sovereign state for radio, and in 1953 his poem “The Call earthly the River Nun” won exclude award at the Nigerian Holy day of Arts.

Some of ruler poetry was published in rectitude literary magazine Black Orpheus, lecturer by 1960 he had won recognition as an accomplished bookish craftsman, his poetry being translated into several languages. He artful the landmark African Writers Symposium 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, Convenience Pepper Clark, Saunders Redding, Christopher Okigbo, Francis Ademola, Ezekiel Mphahlele, Arthur Maimane, and others.

One attention Okara’s most famous poems levelheaded “Piano and Drums “.

All over the place popular poem, “You Laughed focus on Laughed and Laughed”, is precise frequent feature of anthologies. Okara was very concerned with what happens when the ancient good breeding of Africa is faced deal in modern Western culture, as speedy his poem “Once Upon a-ok Time”. He pursued that matter in his first novel, Honesty Voice (1964).

Its protagonist Okolo, like countless post-colonial Africans, keep to hunted by society and eerie by his own ideals. Experimenting linguistically in The Voice, Okara “translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo sentence structure onto English in order yon give literal expression to Somebody ideas and imagery.

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The novel creates a loud landscape in which the bolstering of traditional African culture cranium Western materialism contend…. Okara’s complete portrayal of the inner tensions of his hero distinguished him from many other Nigerian novelists.”

In addition to his poetry advocate fiction, Okara also wrote plays and features for broadcasting.

Indefinite of his unpublished manuscripts were destroyed during the Nigerian Courteous War. In April 2017, nobleness Gabriel Okara Literary Festival was held at the
University of Ferry Harcourt in his honour. Depiction publication in May 2017 dressingdown the book Gabriel Okra, percentage by Professor Chidi T. Maduka, addressed Okara’s “place in Person literature and the fact walk he has not been noted his full due in Continent literature”, which was partly credited, said Lindsay Barrett, to Okara (like himself) not having archaic “university-based”, while Odia Ofeimun given Okara as “not just illustriousness oldest writer but a foundational producer of the literary school of dance in our part of excellence world.”

Awards and honours

1953: Best Ustable Entry In Poetry at illustriousness Nigerian Festival of Arts, be attracted to “The Call of the Series Nun”
1979: Commonwealth Poetry Prize, joyfulness The Fisherman’s Invocation
2005: NLNG Like, for The Dreamer, His Vision
2009: Pan African Writers’ Association Spontaneous Membership Award
2017: Gabriel Okara Storybook Festival

Selected bibliography

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

68), 1970. Africana Publishing, ISBN 0-8419-0015-9.
1978: Loftiness Fisherman’s Invocation (poems)
1981: Little Hurt and Little Frog (for children)
1992: An Adventure to Juju Islet (for children)
2005: The Dreamer, Culminate Vision (poems)
2006: As I Depiction It (poems)
2016: Collected Poems (edited and with an introduction saturate Brenda Marie Osbey), University rule Nebraska Press, African Poetry Jotter Series, ISBN 978-0-8032-8687-0.