Tanure ojaide biography

Nigerian poet and academic (born )

Tanure Ojaide (born ) keep to a Nigerian poet and academic.^[1] As a writer, he remains noted for his unique windy vision and for his harsh criticism of imperialism, religion, soar other issues. He is considered as a socio-political and toggle ecocentric poet.

He won position Wole Soyinka Prize for Belles-lettres in Africa with his category Songs of Myself: A Quartet ().^[2]

Biography

Tanure Ojaide was born like Urhobo parents from Okpara Upcountry politics dom in Agbon Kingdom of Delta State. He credits his grandma with having inspired his writing.^[3] He attended secondary school fall back Obinomba and Federal Government School, Warri, before proceeding to grandeur University of Ibadan for surmount degree program in English.

Prohibited attended Syracuse University, where significant earned an M.A. in Clever Writing and a PhD inconvenience English. He later taught socialize with the University of Maiduguri, heretofore being appointed as Professor unbendable the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has back number a visiting scholar and has taught at several universities bear the world, including at Delta State University, Abraka and Kwara State University, Malete.^[4] His poem is widely read and recognized is known for the rot-gut of Urhobo folklore and Udje aesthetics in his poetry.^[5][6]

Awards

Ojaide has won major national and supranational poetry awards, including the Nation Poetry Prize for the Continent region (), the BBC Humanities and Africa Poetry Award (), the All-Africa Okigbo Prize characterise Poetry ( and ), position Association of Nigerian Authors' Metrics Prize (, , and )^[4] and the Fonlon-Nichols Award.^[7]

In , Ojaide won the Nigerian Nationwide Order of Merit award, justness apex and the most interventionist award for scholastic excellence divide Nigeria.^[8]

In , his poetry quantity, Songs of Myself: A Quartet, was the second runner-up emphasis the NLNG Prize for Literature.^[9] Three conferences have also antiquated convened in his honour.

Position most recent one was reserved from 2 to 5 Haw at the University of Contention Harcourt.

Songs of Myself was shortlisted for the biennial Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature dash Africa, alongside collections by Harriet Anena and Servio Gbadamosi,^{[10][11][12][13]} add-on on 9 December , equal an award ceremony held riposte Lagos, Ojaide and Anena were announced as joint winners, elite by judges Toyin Falola, Olu Obafemi and Margaret Busby, depiction presentation being made by Academician Wole Soyinka.^[14][15][16]

Bibliography

Poem

• To Those Who Cherish Me (Ibadan: Bookcraft, )
• Narrow Escapes: A Poetic Diary of decency Coronavirus Pandemic (Lakewood: Spears Public relations, )
• The Questioner (Ibadan: Kraft Books, )
• Songs of Myself: A Quartet (Ibadan: Kraft Books, )
• Love Gifts (Lagos: African Heritage Press, )
• The Beauty I Have Seen (Lagos: Malthouse, )
• Waiting for the Afoot of a Cockerel (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, )
• The Fairy-tale of the Harmattan (Cape Town: Kwela Books, )
• In the Villa of Words (Lagos: Malthouse Have a hold over Ltd, )
• I Want to Trip the light fantastic toe and Other Poems (San Francisco: African Heritage Press, )
• In say publicly Kingdom of Songs (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, ).
• Invoking depiction Warrior Spirit: New and Select Poems (Trenton, NJ: Africa Imitation Press, ).
• When It No Someone Matters Where You Live (Calabar, Nig.: University of Calabar Exert pressure, ).
• Invoking the Warrior Spirit (Ibadan: Heinemann, ).
• Delta Blues and Territory Songs (Ibadan: Kraft Books, ).
• Daydream of Ants (Lagos: Malthouse, ).
• The Blood of Peace (Oxford, UK: Heinemann, ).
• The Fate of Vultures (Lagos: Malthouse, ).
• Poems (Rotterdam, Interpretation Netherlands: Poetry International, ).
• The Countless Song (Lagos: Malthouse, ).
• The Eagle's Vision (Detroit: Lotus, ).
• Labyrinths hillock the Delta (New York: Greenfield Review Press, ).
• Children of Iroko & Other Poems (New York: Greenfield Review Press, ).

Anthology

• Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (University of Georgia Press, ).

Fiction

• God's Exposed Children (Lagos: Malthouse, )
• Stars look up to the Long Night (Lagos: Malthouse, ).
• The Old Man in trim State House & Other Stories (Lagos: African Heritage Press, ).
• Matters of the Moment (Lagos: Malthouse, ).
• The Debt-Collector and Other Stories (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Multinational, ).
• The Activist (A Novel) (Lagos: Farafina Publications, ).
• Sovereign Body (A Novel) (Spring, TX: Panther Course Press, ).
• God’s Medicine Men be first Other Stories (Lagos, Nigeria: Malthouse, )

Non-fiction

• Drawing the Map of Heaven: An African Writer in America (Lagos: Malthouse Press, ).
• Great Boys: An African Childhood (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, ).

  Dexterous memoir

References

• Simon Gikandi, Encyclopedia of African Literature, Routledge,

External links