Gabriel Okara Essay

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Okara, Gabriel 1921– Gabriel Okara 1921– Nigerian poet, novelist Worked for British Airline Novel Critiqued Political Leaders Manuscripts Lost During Civil War Selected writings Sources Just as black writers in the United States and the Caribbean have faced the problem of how to express themselves in the language of those who enslaved them, black African writers have experimented with different ways of communicating in European languages the experience of colonization and the feel of their traditional cultures. Among the most famous West African writers working in the English language is Gabriel Okara, considered one of the founders of modern African literature. In his novel The Voice he constructed an unusual bridge over the divide between English and African languages: parts of the novel are written in a unique form of English that reproduces the patterns of Okara’s native Ijaw language. Okara’s equally well-known poetry is also poised between European and African modes of expression. A descendant of a noble family of the Ijaw ethnic group and the son of a businessman, Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara was born on April 24 (or 21), 1921, in Bumoundi in British- occupied Nigeria. His family adhered to the Christian Scientist religion, and Christian imagery would play a part in some of his mature works although they were rarely explicitly religious in theme. After attending local schools, Okara entered Nigeria’s British-administered higher education system when he was 14. He attended Government College in the Nigerian city of Umuahia and later Yaba Higher College, studying art as well as writing. He is said to have been inspired to become a poet when he read the poem “Lines Written in Early Spring” by the British Romantic writer William Wordsworth. Worked for British Airline During World War II, Okara attempted to enlist in the

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