Tanure Ojaide

Tanure Ojaide
Born1948 (age 77–78)
Nigeria
CitizenshipNigeria
EducationUniversity of Ibadan; Syracuse University
OccupationsPoet, academic
Notable workSongs of Myself: A Quartet (2017)
Awards2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa

Tanure Ojaide (born 1948) is a Nigerian poet and academic.[1] As a writer, he is noted for his unique stylistic vision and for his intense criticism of imperialism, religion, and other issues. He is regarded as a socio-political and an ecocentric poet. He won the 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa with his collection Songs of Myself: A Quartet (2017).[2]

Biography

Tanure Ojaide was born to Urhobo parents from Okpara Inland in Agbon Kingdom of Delta State. He credits his grandmother with having inspired his writing.[3] He attended secondary school at Obinomba and Federal Government College, Warri, before proceeding to the University of Ibadan for his degree program in English. He attended Syracuse University, where he earned an M.A. in Creative Writing and a PhD in English. He later taught at the University of Maiduguri, before being appointed as Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has been a visiting scholar and has taught at several universities across the world, including at Delta State University, Abraka and Kwara State University, Malete.[4] His poetry is widely read and he is known for the infusion of Urhobo folklore and Udje aesthetics in his poetry.[5][6]

Themes and style

Tanure Ojaide's poetry is characterized by its engagement with environmental justice, cultural memory, political criticism, and the lived experiences of communities in the Niger Delta. Scholars have noted that his work frequently addresses the social and ecological consequences of oil exploration in the region, presenting poetry as a form of cultural resistance and advocacy.[7]

A recurring feature of Ojaide's writing is the incorporation of Urhobo oral traditions, folklore, proverbs, and indigenous cosmologies. Literary critics have argued that this synthesis of oral performance traditions and modern poetic forms contributes to a distinctive poetic voice within contemporary African literature.[8]

His poetry often combines personal memory with collective historical experience, exploring themes of displacement, identity, migration, and the relationship between individuals and their communities.[9]

Environmental advocacy

Environmental concerns occupy a central place in Ojaide's literary work. Many of his poems address the ecological degradation of the Niger Delta and the effects of petroleum extraction on local communities. Scholars have described his poetry as an important contribution to African environmental literature and ecocriticism.[10]

Through both poetry and critical essays, Ojaide has drawn attention to issues including environmental pollution, cultural dislocation, economic inequality, and the consequences of resource exploitation in the Niger Delta.[11]

Critical reception

Ojaide's work has attracted extensive scholarly attention within African literary studies. Critics have praised his ability to merge indigenous oral traditions with contemporary poetic expression while maintaining a strong commitment to social and environmental issues.[12]

Several scholars have identified Ojaide as one of the leading voices in contemporary African poetry, particularly for his sustained engagement with questions of environmental justice and cultural identity.[13]

Legacy

Ojaide is regarded as one of the most influential contemporary African poets. His writings have contributed significantly to discussions of environmental justice, postcolonial identity, and the cultural history of the Niger Delta.[14]

His poetry and critical writings are widely studied in universities across Africa, Europe, and North America, where they form part of courses on African literature, ecocriticism, and postcolonial studies.[15]

Awards

Ojaide has won major national and international poetry awards, including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the Africa region (1987), the BBC Arts and Africa Poetry Award (1988), the All-Africa Okigbo Prize for Poetry (1988 and 1997), the Association of Nigerian Authors' Poetry Prize (1988, 1994, 2003 and 2011)[4] and the Fonlon-Nichols Award.[16]

In 2016, Ojaide won the Nigerian National Order of Merit award, the apex and the most important award for scholastic excellence in Nigeria.[17]

In 2017, his poetry collection, Songs of Myself: A Quartet, was the second runner-up in the NLNG Prize for Literature.[18] Three conferences have also been convened in his honour. The most recent one was held from 2 to 5 May 2018 at the University of Port Harcourt.

Songs of Myself was shortlisted for the biennial Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, alongside collections by Harriet Anena and Servio Gbadamosi,[19][20][21][22] and on 9 December 2018, at an award ceremony held in Lagos, Ojaide and Anena were announced as joint winners, chosen by judges Toyin Falola, Olu Obafemi and Margaret Busby, the presentation being made by Professor Wole Soyinka.[23][24][25]

Bibliography

Poem

  • To Those Who Love Me (Ibadan: Bookcraft, 2022)
  • Narrow Escapes: A Poetic Diary of the Coronavirus Pandemic (Lakewood: Spears Media, 2021)
  • The Questioner (Ibadan: Kraft Books, 2018)
  • Songs of Myself: A Quartet (Ibadan: Kraft Books, 2015)
  • Love Gifts (Lagos: African Heritage Press, 2013)
  • The Beauty I Have Seen (Lagos: Malthouse, 2010)
  • Waiting for the Hatching of a Cockerel (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2008)
  • The Tale of the Harmattan (Cape Town: Kwela Books, 2007)
  • In the House of Words (Lagos: Malthouse Press Ltd, 2005)
  • I Want to Dance and Other Poems (San Francisco: African Heritage Press, 2003)
  • In the Kingdom of Songs (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2002).
  • Invoking the Warrior Spirit: New and Selected Poems (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2000).
  • When It No Longer Matters Where You Live (Calabar, Nig.: University of Calabar Press, 1999).
  • Invoking the Warrior Spirit (Ibadan: Heinemann, 1999).
  • Delta Blues and Home Songs (Ibadan: Kraft Books, 1998).
  • Daydream of Ants (Lagos: Malthouse, 1997).
  • The Blood of Peace (Oxford, UK: Heinemann, 1991).
  • The Fate of Vultures (Lagos: Malthouse, 1990).
  • Poems (Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Poetry International, 1988).
  • The Endless Song (Lagos: Malthouse, 1988).
  • The Eagle's Vision (Detroit: Lotus, 1987).
  • Labyrinths of the Delta (New York: Greenfield Review Press, 1986).
  • Children of Iroko & Other Poems (New York: Greenfield Review Press, 1973).

Anthology

  • Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (University of Georgia Press, 2018).

Fiction

  • God's Naked Children (Lagos: Malthouse, 2018)
  • Stars of the Long Night (Lagos: Malthouse, 2012).
  • The Old Man in a State House & Other Stories (Lagos: African Heritage Press, 2012).
  • Matters of the Moment (Lagos: Malthouse, 2009).
  • The Debt-Collector and Other Stories (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2009).
  • The Activist (A Novel) (Lagos: Farafina Publications, 2006).
  • Sovereign Body (A Novel) (Spring, TX: Panther Creek Press, 2004).
  • God’s Medicine Men and Other Stories (Lagos, Nigeria: Malthouse, 2004)

Non-fiction

  • Drawing the Map of Heaven: An African Writer in America (Lagos: Malthouse Press, 2012).
  • Great Boys: An African Childhood (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1998). A memoir

References

  1. ↑ "Ojaide, Tanure | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  2. ↑ "Tanure Ojaide". The Sun. Lagos, Nigeria. 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  3. ↑ Adama, Lami C. (31 May 2017), "Assuming the Minstrel’s Mantle in Tanure Ojaide’s Songs of Myself", World Literature Today.
  4. 1 2 "Biography". Tanure Ojaide website. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  5. ↑ Orhero, Mathias I (29 May 2017). "Urhobo Folklore and Udje Aesthetics in Tanure Ojaide's In the House of Words and Songs of Myself". CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture. 19 (2). doi:10.7771/1481-4374.3014.
  6. ↑ Ojaruega, E. E. (1 January 2015). "The place of Urhobo folklore in Tanure Ojaide's poetry". Tydskrif vir Letterkunde. 52 (2): 138–158. doi:10.4314/tvl.v52i2.10. ISSN 2309-9070.
  7. ↑ Nwagbara, Uzoechi (2010). "The Poetics of Resistance: Ecocritical Dimensions in Tanure Ojaide's Poetry". Journal of African Cultural Studies.
  8. ↑ Okuyade, Ogaga (2008). "Tradition and Modernity in the Poetry of Tanure Ojaide". Research in African Literatures.
  9. ↑ The Literature and Arts of the Niger Delta. Routledge. 2013.
  10. ↑ Nwagbara, Uzoechi (2011). "Oil Politics and Environmental Justice in the Poetry of Tanure Ojaide". Journal of African Literature and Culture.
  11. ↑ Writing the Environment in Africa. Rodopi. 2013.
  12. ↑ Okuyade, Ogaga (2012). "Critical Perspectives on Tanure Ojaide's Poetry". African Literature Today.
  13. ↑ Contemporary African Literature and Environmental Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. 2015.
  14. ↑ The Routledge Handbook of African Literature. Routledge. 2020.
  15. ↑ "Teaching Tanure Ojaide in the Twenty-First Century". Research in African Literatures. 2018.
  16. ↑ Kamakshi Kamath (5 March 2015). "Tanure Ojaide wins Fonlon-Nichols Award". The Sun. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  17. ↑ Clement Idoko (25 November 2016). "FG names Professors Omowunmi, Ojaide 2016 winners of NNOM award". Nigerian Tribune. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  18. ↑ "Ikeogu wins 2017 NLNG Prize for Literature". The Sun. Lagos, Nigeria. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Nine African poets shortlisted for 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature", P.M. News, 3 November 2018.
  20. ↑ Daily Graphic (19 November 2018), "9 African poets on 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature list", Graphic Online.
  21. ↑ "Arena, Ojaide, Gbadamosi shortlisted for Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature", The Cable, 28 November 2018,
  22. ↑ "Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature 2018 shortlist announced", James Murua's Literature Blog, 29 November 2018.
  23. ↑ "Prof Tanure Ojaide, Harriet Anena are joint Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature 2018 winners", James Murua's Literature Blog, 10 December 2018.
  24. ↑ Joseph Kizza, "Ugandan wins 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature", New Vision, 10 December 2018.
  25. ↑ Kungu Al-Mahadi Adam, "Ugandan Author, Harriet Anena Wins 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize", SoftPower News, 10 December 2018.
  • Simon Gikandi, Encyclopedia of African Literature, Routledge, 2002.
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