KALU OKPI

Kalu Okpi (1947 – 1993) of Nigeria wrote and published some of the most exciting "popular" fiction, or thrillers in Africa over the years. A remarkably imaginative writer of prose and drama, Okpi deserves much more attention even in recent times.

He published some ten works of gripping fiction, starting with The Smugglers in the 70s. In many other works, like On the Road, Crossfire, Coup!, Love, he created interesting characters, including delectable women. In a novel like The South African Affair, the usual stunning plot, twists and turns, and startling finale make for powerful reading. 

International scholars have recognised Okpi's contributions to interesting African fiction - at least some of them; as witness certain major anthologies and books on African Literature in general.  Such scholars include Wendy Griswold, Oyekan Owomoyela, K.S Ogbonna, V. Coulon, T A Ezeigbo, and H Ehling. But Okpi's work and impact deserve even more attention. 

In many ways, he was a versatile writer, and stylist - he was in fact a scriptwriter for the national television of Nigeria (NTA). He also published a play titled ECHOES: a play in 5 Scenes.

It is often suggested that "popular writers" are essentially undermined, with a dearth of real studies or full-length works produced on their ouvre. This is certainly not the case overseas, with hundreds of studies and books regularly written and published on the likes of Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Philip Roth, John Updike, R L Stevenson, and countless others. Why should the situation be different in Africa, or specifically in Nigeria which has such a vibrant literary history and community?

We must celebrate, enjoy the literary contributions of the likes of Okpi, Victor Thorpe, and the great Ekwensi. Many monographs should be published on them, which would include appraisals of their published work, positive and negative. Here, for example, is some criticism of Okpi s novel, Love changes Everything.(by Erl, on goodreads) :

“… The plot has holes on every page so large you could drive a Mack truck through them. Additionally, it promotes wrong-headed ideas such as love at first sight and revenge. A woman who is traumatized by witnessing her parents' murder will not be able to "lay the ghosts to rest" by committing additional murders. Lastly, the protagonist, a major rock star, decides to sell all his assets for half a million US dollars. Half a million-- really? He then proceeds to spend so much money on the next few pages that he is certainly broke by the end of the chapter, but there is no mention of that. .. ‘

Kalu Okpi, rather like the Eurocentric writers Mark Twain, Agatha Christie, or even James Hadley Chase gave a lot of pleasure to (African) readers via his well written novels or thrillers.  His legacy must be kept alive, with at least 2, 3 - or much more - full-length studies, biographies et al focused on his life, times, and of course, his prolific creative work.

-         O Bolaji

Works by Kalu Okpi

The Smugglers  

Cross-fire  

Biafra Testament  

Love

On The Road

The Oil Conspiracy

 Love Changes Everything  

The Warriors

The Politician

The Jasmine Candle

 The South African Affair

 Coup ! 

ECHOES: A Play in 5 Scenes

ESOSA KOLAWOLE (Nigeria)

 

Ever since Africans fathomed the skill of modern writing, plethora of awesome literature has been produced in Africa by Africans themselves.  The world today enjoys literature cultivated by African writers with great glee. Apart from male African writers, African literature generated by women African writers is absolutely remarkable.  Yes of course sublime African female writers devoted their entire literary life by writing books that are aesthetically invaluable.  To mention but few of them, the luminaries such as Ama Ata Aidoo, Grace Ogot, Efua Sutherland, Miriam Tlali, Bessie Head, Flora Nwapa, Mariama Ba, Buchi Emecheta, Lauretta Ngcobo contributed enormous corpus of literature that is dazzling.

Moreover, female writers in the world have never disappointed when it comes to literature, although the society sometimes where they found themselves at would treacherously deny them an opportunity to unequivocally express themselves overtly.  Obviously there are many extant examples where female writers would deliberately conceal their original identity and would rather (initially) use pseudonym names instead of their original names.  Bronte Sisters, Jane Austen, Olive Schreiner et al, are perfect examples.

Another thing that is essential about female writers is that although they might be stimulated by certain writers like is usually proverbial with men, they are not namby-pamby about the work they produce.  Their open mindedness about the work they generate is very captivating.  Ama Ata Aidoo whom I can say, from the onset her literary works are very magnificent.  Since she believed from the outset that writing was her calling and what is astounding about her is that, at a young age she courageously showcased her literary prowess when her article in the literary newspaper won a prize, subsequently she devoted her pride in writing, that’s why readers will invariably reminisce about what she said when she got to know that her article won a prize. “On the 24th of December, my auntie and I were in the kitchen," Aidoo reminisces. "I opened the center page of the newspaper and saw my name." With the money from her first publication, she bought coveted pink shoes. She was 18 years old.  In similitude Bronte sisters including Jane Austen began to write at a very early stage in their lives.  What about Toni Morrison who published one of the groundbreaking books, “Contemporary African Literature” that includes the world African venerated writers like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Athol Fugard?  Also how can I forget the prodigious literary works of Maya Angelou? Reckoning her youthful life which was terribly harrowing but ultimately she triumphed in her life and she became one of the celebrated sublime writers in the world.

Yes, Africa and the world possess female writers who are absolutely gifted.  Recently, young African writers have been doing exceptionally fantastic and their literary works are transcending majestically.  Despite the chronic poverty issue which continues to inflict poignant pain, and threatens the survival of African communities-this has not disheartened Africans to dramatically achieve world class recognition in literature.  Like today things have changed completely.  Beforehand, Africans through their fervent efforts they were able to come up with literary initiatives that bolstered literature.  For instance, early literary journals like Black Orpheus, Transition etc were very potent in fostering African literature.  In fact Ama Ata Aidoo and Grace Ogot were very familiar with this type of journal which they also contributed to with relish.  Of course those were very difficult times as writers across the African continent would employ physical mails to send their writings to the editors of the journals which was often a protracted, frustrating process  to reach the appropriate destination.

Currently things have improved a lot, although mails are still relevant but technology has swiftly replaced certain hurdles that were hitherto experienced with mails of yore.  Journals that promote literature still exist even today, for example Chimurenga, Kwani, Jalada and so on. Imperatively, the introduction of new technology has assisted in making communication much easier.  The power of technology at present moment is creating a better situation where information can be gleaned with ease without impediment.  It is easier to research any writer in the world because of the internet where you will also find literary blogs that buttress literature. Smartphones too do have internet that makes even researches animated.     Unlike in the past where journals were essentially the only way to know about writers in the world, technology has simplified things.  Although social media can in many of the cases be regarded as an aspect that only deals with social entertainment and posting of fashion show and employing inappropriate language that might not be acceptable to the conservative. 

It is however gladdening that a young female writer by the name of Esosa Kolawole (a Nigerian) is already making waves in respect of creative writing.  She is mostly conspicuous on the internet, and has already published some tentative works and books. She already writes with zest and confidence.  Considering her young age many in the literary fraternity are somewhat surprised, though elated, as her constant writings are gratifying.  Esosa's writing is augmented by her ability to adapt with modern era technology and use it for the benefit of literary aficionados as well as literature in general.  Reading her short stories, the reader will often be chuffed. 

Esosa's contribution in literature even at such an early stage is fascinating; patently her contribution in literature is already veritably riveting - considering the jaded nature of the genre these days. She somewhat reminds me of Ata Ama Aidoo who began her literary voyage at a very young age and today is one of the most successful writers not only in Africa but in the whole world.  Esosa's potential seems awesome, because her works reveal that she has ardent passion for writing.  Furthermore, critics will continue to zero in on her writings. Her works thus far seem to be coherently entrenched; she regularly writes corpus of short stories, and other general features on the mechanics of writing. 

Yes she loves ‘spooky’ stories about magic, myths etc!  She has written a number of thrilling short stories, and at least a novella titled Tella.  Of course Esosa Kolawole's impact in literature will strongly have powerful effects which will evoke the world about African successful writers like Tsitsi Dangarembga - of the Nervous Conditions fame, and many more thriving African female writers. 

Interestingly, Esosa has stated thus about herself: "I’m Esosa Kolawole, an avid reader and a YA paranormal writer.  I have an upcoming novel this June titled Fib and the Axe Of Fury.  I basically write all the time.  If I’m not on my blog:  The Quirky Pen Girl quirkypengirl.blogspot.com then I’ll probably be plotting a story.  I love Percy Jackson series and I love Cupid’s Match.  Both books have spurred me to write a YA mythology which is a spin off to Fib and The Axe of Fury..."

Surely, a young, fascinating lady to watch!
- Ishmael M Soqaga

KALU UKA (Nigeria)

Over the decades, hundreds of thousands of students grew up relishing the poetry of Kalu Uka, a renowned academic, dramatist and literary critic. Apart from his own individual books, samples of his poetry have appeared in many illustrious "Selections of poetry "

Indeed, the slim work of poetry, Earth to earth published by Uka many decades ago, is one of the most accomplished in polished African verses. The title poem is haunting, evocative, sombre and melancholic. The poetic devices on the whole are stunning, eclectic and unforgettable.

Uka was born in Akanu-Ohafia and attended Akanu Ohafia Presbyterian School, Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar and earned his degrees from the University of Ibadan and the University of Toronto (Canada). Among many other innovations in the histrionic circuit, he also co-founded Oak Theatre.

He is a Member of the Smithsonian Institute and has published various titles and plays including 'Colonel Ben Brim', an examination of the devastation wrought by invidious war, 'A Consummation of Fire', and 'A Harvest for Arts' which was a dramatic adaptation of Chinua Achebe's riveting novel,  Arrow of God. 

Kalu Uka studied and taught Shakespeare for many years at the highest levels, including being a teacher and scholar in England at the University of Leeds as an assistant lecturer in literature and serving as a Fulbright Scholar of African Drama.
 

He also served in various capacities as Coordinator, Head of Department, Dean and University Orator at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, University of Calabar and the University of Uyo.  

Dr Inyang has written inter alia about the peerless Uka: "A believer in good arts and a writer of the obscurantist school, a non-surprising exertion of the Soyinkean mode that he supports and promotes not because himself and Wole Soyinka were classmates at Ibadan, but for the purity and sustenance of the arts and culture as institutions of existence. Kalu Uka’s literary oeuvre is a big bag of treasures. In poetry, prose, drama and essays, his extraordinary cultivation of the English language and literature and the successful accentuation of indigenous stylistics and phonology in works such as Ikamma sets him apart as one with the unique skills of a master of both worlds...

"While appropriating the story for A Harvest of Ants from Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God, he retains the classical determinism of the Elizabethan poesy by sculpting lines that reads better as poems but matures and swells in drama in A Hunt for Sugar Baby. Words take on very elevated state and exude a rare exuberance expected of kings but this yet again confirms that in the hands of Kalu Uka, words are kings and are treated as such..."

What a world-class wordsmith!


Select Bibliography

Earth to earth : poems by Kalu Uka

Colonel Ben Brim : a novel by Kalu Uka

A consummation of fire : a novel by Kalu Uka

Ikhamma : a one-act ritual re-enactment by Kalu Uka

The fugitives : a collaboration by Kalu Uka

Themes and characterisation in some plays of Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams by Kalu Uka

Drama and conscientization by Kalu Uka

Prescriptive anomalies in African aesthetics : the case for a language
of poetry & drama ; presented at the Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the
African Studies Association, October 29 - November 1, 1975 by Kalu
Uka

J .P. Clark's Ozidi : a suggested teaching approach by Kalu Uka

Ohafia in time perspective: retrospects & prospects by Kalu Uka

AHMADOU KOUROUMA (IVORY COAST)

Blunt truth is - when we think about best-selling writers, African writers rarely ever come to mind, especially those writing about Africa, its pet themes, problems, convolutions and the like. Yet the late Ivorian writer, Ahmadou Kourouma during his heyday had his works gobbled up in large amounts, in metropolitan France so to speak.

Kourouma of course wrote and published his major works in French, though over the years translations of the same have appeared in English and other languages. He was very much an African writing in a "foreign" language, and some pundits were uneasy about his famed neologisms and grassroots allusions which seemed to bemuse them. But Kourouma was such a fine, talented and committed writer.

 

He was the son of a distinguished Malinké family, who went on to study in Bamako, Mali. Evidently a strong imposing man, he participated in French military campaigns in Indochina, after which he journeyed to France to further his
studies in Lyon.

Kourouma returned to his native Côte d'Ivoire after it won its independence in 1960, but antagonised the powers that be, including President  Félix Houphouët-Boigny. This led to incarceration, and afterwards a life in  exile, first in Algeria (1964–69), then in Cameroon (1974–84) and Togo (1984–94), before finally returning to live in Côte d'Ivoire.

His fiction would reflect his disillusionment and somewhat disgust: "His first novel, Les soleils des indépendances (The Suns of Independence, 1970) contains a critical treatment of post-colonial governments in Africa. Twenty years later, his second book Monnè, outrages et défis, a history of a century of colonialism, was published. In 1998, he published En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages (translated as Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote), a satire of postcolonial Africa in the style of Voltaire in which a griot recounts the story of a tribal hunter's transformation into a dictator, inspired by president Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo. In 2000, he published Allah n'est pas obligé (translated as Allah is Not Obliged), a tale of an orphan who becomes a child soldier when traveling to visit his aunt in Liberia."

In France, each of Ahmadou Kourouma's novels was celebrated, sold exceptionally well, and was showered with prizes including the Prix Renaudot,  and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens for Allah n'est pas obligé.

Kourouma not only wrote novels, he was also a playwright and general essayist. He was worldly enough to have also pursued an insurance and banking career in France and Cameroon. Perhaps his most famous play was Tougnantigui; ou, le diseur de vérité (“Tougnantigui; or, The Truth Teller”)

 

"He (Kourouma) was probably the best-known Francophone African writer in France and was sometimes referred to as the 'African Voltaire' " pundits have avowed.

Bibliography

Les Soleils des indépendances
ie The Suns of Independence, Translator Adrian Adams

Le diseur de vérité — drama, 1972

Monnew: a novel, Translator Nidra Poller, Mercury House, 1999

En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages, Éditions du Seuil, 1998.

ie Waiting for the Vote of the Wild Animals.

Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote. Translator Frank Wynne.Yacouba, chasseur africain. 1998.

Allah n'est pas obligé, Seuil, 2000

ie  Allah is Not Obliged. Translator Frank Wynne.

Quand on refuse on dit non, Editor Gilles Carpentier