1998: Niyi Osundare

DR. NIYI OSUNDARE, Professor, Ph.D., York University, 1979

Poet, dramatist, critic, essayist, and media columnist, Niyi Osundare has authored over ten volumes of poetry, two books of selected poems, four plays, a book of essays, and numerous articles on literature, language, culture, and society. He regards his calling as a writer and his profession as a teacher as essentially complementary. He was educated on three continents: B.A. (Honours) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, M.A. from the University of Leeds in England, and Ph.D. from York University, Toronto, Canada.

The wide and varied exposure accruing from this has proved very useful for his writing and teaching careers. Born in Nigeria, one of the most linguistically and culturally heterogeneous countries in the world, he learnt early in life the complexities and challenges of diversity. He began his teaching career at the University of Ibadan in 1974 and rose to the position of full professor there in 1989. From 1993 to 1997, he was the chair of its Department of English. He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990 to 1991, and in 1991/92, an associate professor of English at the University of New Orleans, where he returned as full professor in 1997, and was selected university research professor in 2001.

His areas of specialization are African literature, literature of the African diaspora, literary stylistics, sociolinguistics, and creative writing. About his passion for teaching, he has this to say: "For me, the classroom is a vital space inhabited - no, lived - by students and teachers as partners, even collaborators, in a process of intellectual and social inquiry and exchange .... I strive to be the kind of teacher who challenges and inspires..."

For his creative works, Osundare has received many prizes: the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize, the Cadbury/ANA Prize, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Noma Award (Africa's most prestigious book award), and the Fonlon/Nichols Award for "excellence in literary creativity combined with significant contributions to Human Rights in Africa".

He has carried out readings and performances of his works in many parts of the world, and his poems have been translated into French, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean. He has been a recipient of honorary doctorates from the Universite de Toulouse-le Mirail in France and Franklin Pierce College in Rindge New Hampshire, USA. He is a columnist for Newswatch, a prominent Nigerian newsmagazine, and a frequent newspaper commentator on current affairs.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Poetry:

Songs of the Marketplace, Ibadan: New Horn Press, 1983
Village Voices, Ibadan: Evans Brothers, 1984
The Eye of the Earth, Ibadan: Heinemann, 1986
Moonsongs, Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 1988
Songs of the Season, Ibadan: Heinemann, 1990
Waiting Laughters, Lagos & Oxford: Malthouse Press, 1990
Midlife, Ibadan: Heinemann, 1993
Horses of Memory, Ibadan: Heinemann, 1999
The Word Is an Egg, Ibadan: Kraftbooks, 2000

Selected Poems

Selected Poems, Oxford: Heinemann International 1992
Pages From the Book of the Sun: New & Selected Poems, Trenton, NJ:
African World Press, 2002

Scholarship

Thread in the Loom: Essays on African Literature and Culture, Trenton,
NJ: African world Press, 2002

Drama

The State Visit, Ibadan: Kraftbooks, 2002

www.uno.edu/~engl/osundare.htm

Email: nosundare@yahoo.com

Comments

[chinwe]

i need a critical analysis of niyi osundare's state visit

[Durojaiye afolabi]

i need materials on use of language in niyi osundare's songs of a market place.

[onanuga ayo]

Could i also get an analysis of the state visit and two plays? thanks

[akinrimisi olanike]

i need relevant information on the language and style of niyi osundare's midlife and village voices.

[uche]

i need a critical analysis of niyi osundare's waiting laughters

[Seth Hobson]

please i need a critical analysis of Niyi Osundare's The Eye of the earth

[miss duruamara chika]

I NEED A CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON NIYI OSUNDARE'S POEM, THE EYE OF THE EARTH

[ibukunoluwa arif]

i just tot to say i've read a couple of the man's works and i think HE IS GREAT! - He really has a way with words... but then who ai be sef / isn't it an overflogged opinion?

[adigun abayomi o]

as english undergraduate i need it to complete my course

[adigun abayomi o]

as a scholar

[harold ukwe]

i need an analysis of the aesthetics of niyi osundare's songs of the market place.

[Ndim Bernard Ngouche]

As a poet per excellencei have always loved reading works of great African minds so that i can better equipe myself with their works. I have always loved to have Niyi Osundare as my mentor for no one can deny that in real life partnering is of premodial importance. This places two people together so that they can better share common values and improve upon themselves. I have read your poems and love the simplicity used in your effortless flow of words that sink deeper into the soul.

[luckymansy]

You can be lucky!!!

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[Afolabi Ololade]

Please I need a detailed review of Midlife poems by Niyi Osundare. I want to use it for my project as part of the requirement for my honorary award. Thanks.

[olayiwola lateefah]

i think Prof Osundare is a great playwright and poet.I feel privileged to have been able to tap from his fountain of knowledge.Thanks.

[muhydeen akande]

pls i need a detailed essay on the stylistic features of Niyi Osundare's the state visit

[ogundele opeyemi]

please i need a detailed analysis on the eye of the earth niyi osundare for my final year project

[adelaface]

hey guys!!!!!

I'm, desperately in need of the analysis of village voices by niyi osunidare