Okara, Gabriel
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Gabriel Okara was born in Bumoundi (in present-day Bayelsa State), Nigeria in 1921. He studied art and writing at Yaba Higher College, and journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In 1953 he won the Best All-Around award at the Nigerian Festival of Art for his poem “Call of the River Nun,” which would later be published in the literary magazine, Black Orpheus. His published poetry collections include The Dreamer, His Vision (2004), which won the 2005 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature, and The Fisherman’s Invocation (1978), for which he won the Commonwealth Joint Poetry Award in 1979. He died in 2019 in Yenagoa, Nigeria.
- Section
- Index of Poets
- Poet Name
- Okara, Gabriel
- Given name
- Gabriel
- Last Name
- Okara
- Gender
- Male
- Place of Birth (city)
- Nigeria, Bomoundi
- Place of Birth (country)
- West Africa
- Date of Death
- 25 March 2019
- Selected Works
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Poems:
Adhiambo
For Ada Udechukwu
You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
Speeches, Lectures, Interviews, Performances / Critical Articles, Media:
Ajeluorou, Anote. "‘Gabriel Okara has written in all genres, yet not much attention has been given to his work’", The Guardian (Nigeria), 19 March 2017.
Ajeluorou, Anote. "Gabriel Okara… Restoring the genius of Africa’s oldest living poet", The Guardian (Nigeria), 5 May 2017.
Echeruo, Michael J.C. "Gabriel Okara: A Poet and His Seasons." World Literature Today, 1992: 454–456
Green, Eldred Ibibiem. Gabriel Okara: The Man and His Art. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Onyoma Research Publications, 2007.
Kahora, Billy. "Penpoints, Gunpoints, and Dreams: A history of creative writing instruction in East Africa", Chimurenga Chronic, 18 April 2017.
Willhardt, Mark. Who's Who in 20th Century World Poetry, Routledge (2001, ISBN 0-415-16355-2), p. 237.
Yaba Higher College (Art and writing). Northwestern University, Comparative journalism (1960) - Poetry Collections
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The Fisherman's Invocation. Heinemann, 1978.
The Dreamer, His Vision. University of Port Harcourt Press, 2004.
As I See It. University of Port Harcourt Press, 2006.
Collected Poems (edited and with an introduction by Brenda Marie Osbey). University of Nebraska Press, 2016.
