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.
1921-04-24
2019-03-25
Ijaw
Nigeria
Ijaw, English
Yaba Higher College , Northwestern University
Adhiambo
For Ada Udechukwu
You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
The Fisherman’s Invocation (collected poetry) (London: Heinemann Educational, 1978);
The Dreamer, His Vision (Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press, 2004);
Collected Poems (edited and with an introduction by Brenda Marie Osbey) (University of Nebraska Press, African Poetry Book Series, 2016)
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. 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.
“Gabriel Okara.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Okara. Accessed 4 June 2022. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Gabriel Okara". Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gabriel-Okara. Accessed 4 June 2022. "Okara, Gabriel." Contemporary Black Biography. Encyclopedia.com. 2 Jun. 2022 <https://www.encyclopedia.com> Accessed 4 June 2022. “Famous writer, poet, Gabriel Okara, dies at 97.” Vanguard Newspaper, 25 March 2019, https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/03/famous-writers-poets-gabriel-okara-dies-at-97/. Accessed 4 June 2022. Obi-Young, Otosirieze. “Gabriel Okara, Whose Modernist Works Changed African Poetry, Passes on at 97.” Brittle Paper, 28 March 2019, https://brittlepaper.com/2019/03/gabriel-okara-whose-modernist-works-changed-african-poetry-passes-on-at-97/. Accessed 4 June 2022.
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