Christopher Okigbo 1930-67
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€107.99
A01=Obi Nwakanma
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Author_Obi Nwakanma
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BGL
Category=DNBL
Category=DSBH
Category=DSC
Chinua Achebe
Christopher Okigbo
colonial service
COP=United Kingdom
cult status
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
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eq_biography-true-stories
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guerrilla
gun-runner
Language_English
literary drive
literature
Nigerian civil war
Nigerian poet
PA=Available
poetry
Price_€50 to €100
PS=Active
softlaunch
Wole Soyinka
Product details
- ISBN 9781847010131
- Weight: 854g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 18 Mar 2010
- Publisher: James Currey
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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The first full-length biography of Christopher Okigbo, the most anthologized modern African poet, giving an extended narrative and rounded account of his life and times.
Christopher Okigbo, once described as 'Africa's most lyrical poet of the twentieth century' was killed in September 1967, fighting for the independence of Biafra. The Sunday Times described his death as 'the single most important tragedy of the Nigerian civil war'. The manner in which Okigbo died typified the passionate, tortured and dramatic quality of his life. Widely considered along with Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe as part of modern Nigeria'sgreatest literary triumvirate, Okigbo's death promoted him to cult status among subsequent generations of African writers.
This is the first full biography of the Nigerian poet. It places Okigbo within the turmoil of his generation and illustrates the aspects of his life that gave rise to such an intense poetry. How did his experience in the prestigious, English-type boarding school, Umuahia, where he was known more as a sportsman than a scholar, influence his life and later choices? Why was he sacked from the colonial service, and how did that lead him towards a search for private recovery, and ultimately towards poetry? What led him to take up arms? In other words, how didhis eclectic pursuits as high school teacher, university librarian, publisher, gun-runner and guerrilla fuel his poetic drive?
OBI NWAKANMA, journalist and poet, is Associate Professor of English, University of CentralFlorida
Nigeria: HEBN (PB)
