Gabriel Imomotimi Okara (24 April 1921 – 25 March 2019) was a Nigerian poet and novelist who was born in Bumoundi in Yenagoa,

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yena ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The first

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

poet of

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

Africa, he is best known for his early experimental novel, ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' (1964), and his award-winning poetry, published in ''The Fisherman's Invocation'' (1978) and ''The Dreamer, His Vision'' (2005). In both his poems and his prose, Okara drew on African thought, religion,

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and imagery, and he has been called "the Nigerian Negritudist". According to

Brenda Marie Osbey Brenda Marie Osbey (born December 12, 1957 in New Orleans) is an American poet. She served as the Poet Laureate of Louisiana from 2005 to 2007. Life She graduated from Dillard University, Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III, and from the Un ...

, editor of his ''Collected Poems'', "It is with publication of Gabriel Okara's first poem that Nigerian literature in English and modern African poetry in this language can be said truly to have begun."

Biography

Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara, the son of an Ijọ chief,"Gabriel Okara," in Hans M. Zell, Carol Bundy, Virginia Coulon, ''A New Reader's Guide to African Literature'', Heinemann Educational Books, 1983; pp. 445–447. was born in Bomoundi in the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

in 1921. He was educated at

Government College Umuahia Government College Umuahia, or GCU, is an independent secondary school for boys located on Umuahia- Ikot Ekpene road in Umuahia, Nigeria. Twenty years after the establishment of Kings College, the first government-owned high school, by the Bri ...

, and later at

Yaba Higher College Yaba Higher College was founded in 1932 in Yaba, now a suburb of Lagos in Nigeria to provide tertiary education to Africans, mostly in vocational subjects and teaching. The college staff were transferred to start the University of Ibadan in 1948 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he attempted to enlist in the British Royal Air Force but did not complete pilot training, instead he worked for a time for the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the pass ...

(later British Airways).James M. Manheim
"Okara, Gabriel 1921–"
''Contemporary Black Biography ''. Encyclopedia.com. In 1945 Okara found work as a printer and bookbinder for colonial Nigeria's government-owned publishing company. He remained in that post for nine years, during which he began to write. At first he translated poetry from Ijaw into English and wrote scripts for government radio. He studied journalism at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1949, and before the outbreak of the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence ...

(1967–70) worked as Information Officer for the Eastern Nigerian Government Service. Together with

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and '' magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

, Okara was roving ambassador for Biafra's cause during part of 1969. From 1972 to 1980 he was director of the

Rivers State Rivers State, also known as Rivers, is a state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed in 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include: Imo to the north, Abia and Akwa ...

Publishing House in Port Harcourt."Gabriel Okara"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''.

Writing

After leaving school Okara wrote plays and features for radio, and in 1953 his poem "The Call of the River Nun" won an award at the Nigerian Festival of Arts. Some of his poetry was published in the literary magazine ''

Black Orpheus ''Black Orpheus'' ( Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play ''Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Mora ...

'', and by 1960 he had won recognition as an accomplished literary craftsman, his poetry being translated into several languages. He attended the landmark African Writers Conference held on 1 June 1962 at Makerere University College in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, along with such writers as

, Rajat Neogy,

Bloke Modisane William Modisane (28 August 1923 – 1 March 1986), better known as Bloke Modisane, was a South African writer, actor and journalist. Biography William "Bloke" Modisane, the eldest son of Joseph and Ma-Willie Modisane,Nelly E Sonderling (e ...

, Okot p'Bitek,

Bernard Fonlon Bernard Nsokika Fonlon (19 November 1924 – 27 August 1986) was a Demographics of Cameroon, Cameroonian politician and educationist who worked on the development of bilingualism in Cameroon. Early life and education Bernard was born on 19 ...

, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Olusegun Olusola,

Grace Ogot Grace Emily Ogot (née Akinyi; 15 May 1930 – 18 March 2015) was a Kenyan author, nurse, journalist, politician and diplomat. Together with Charity Waciuma she was the first Anglophone female Kenyan writer to be published.Mike Kuria, ed. ''Ta ...

, Jonathan Kariara, Rebecca Njau,

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

, John Pepper Clark, Saunders Redding,

Christopher Okigbo Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo (16 August 1932 – 1967) was a Nigerian poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet an ...

, Francis Ademola,

Ezekiel Mphahlele Es'kia Mphahlele (17 December 1919 – 27 October 2008) was a South African writer, educationist, artist and activist celebrated as the Father of African Humanism and one of the founding figures of modern African literature. He was given the ...

Arthur Maimane John Arthur Mogale Maimane (5 October 1932 – 28 June 2005), better known as Arthur Maimane, was a South African journalist and novelist. Biography Maimane was born in Pretoria, South Africa, growing up in the black township of Lady Selborne.D ...

, and others. One of Okara's most famous poems is " Piano and Drums". Another popular poem, " You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed", is a frequent feature of anthologies. Okara was very concerned with what happens when the ancient culture of Africa is faced with modern

Western culture Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

, as in his poem "Once Upon a Time". He pursued that theme in his first novel, ''The Voice'' (1964). Its protagonist Okolo, like countless post-colonial Africans, is hunted by society and haunted by his own ideals. Experimenting linguistically in ''The Voice'', Okara "translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo syntax onto English in order to give literal expression to African ideas and imagery. The novel creates a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional African culture and Western materialism contend.... Okara’s skilled portrayal of the inner tensions of his hero distinguished him from many other Nigerian novelists." In addition to his poetry and fiction, Okara also wrote plays and features for broadcasting. Many of his unpublished manuscripts were destroyed during the Nigerian Civil War. In April 2017, the Gabriel Okara Literary Festival was held at the

University of Port Harcourt The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was rank ...

in his honour. The publication in May 2017 of the book ''Gabriel Okra'', edited by Professor Chidi T. Maduka, addressed Okara's "place in African literature and the fact that he has not been given his full due in African literature", which was partly attributable, said

Lindsay Barrett Carlton Lindsay Barrett (born 15 September 1941), also known as Eseoghene, is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist and photographer, whose work has interacted with the Caribbean Artists Movement in the UK, the Black ...

, to Okara (like himself) not having been "university-based", while

Odia Ofeimun Odia Ofeimun (born 16 March 1950)"Biography: Odia Ofeimun, Nigeria"
Badilisha Poetry X ...

acknowledged Okara as "not just the oldest writer but a foundational producer of the literary arts in our part of the world."

Awards and honours

* 1953: Best All-Round Entry In Poetry at the Nigerian Festival of Arts, for "The Call of the River Nun" * 1979:

Commonwealth Poetry Prize The Commonwealth Poetry Prize was an annual poetry prize established in 1972, for a first published book of English poetry from a country other than the United Kingdom. It was initially administered jointly by the Commonwealth Institute and the Nat ...

, for ''The Fisherman's Invocation'' * 2005: NLNG Prize, for ''The Dreamer, His Vision'' * 2009:

Pan African Writers' Association The Pan African Writers' Association (PAWA), founded in November 1989, is a Ghana-based cultural institution "born in the larger crucible of Pan Africanism" that is an umbrella body of writers' associations on the African continent and the Diaspo ...

Honorary Membership Award * 2017: Gabriel Okara Literary Festival

Selected bibliography

* 1964: ''The Voice'', London: Deutsch, first edition; Heinemann

African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an int ...

(No. 68), 1970. Africana Publishing, . * 1978: ''The Fisherman's Invocation'' (poems) * 1981: ''Little Snake and Little Frog'' (for children) * 1992: ''An Adventure to Juju Island'' (for children) * 2005: ''The Dreamer, His Vision''(20) (poems) * 2006: ''As I See It'' (poems) * 2016: ''Collected Poems'' (edited and with an introduction by Brenda Marie Osbey), University of Nebraska Press, African Poetry Book Series, .

References

External links