Time and Nature in the Poetry of Niyi Osundare

Time and Nature in the Poetry of Niyi Osundare

Author: Chukwunwike Anolue

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-08-02

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 1040087817

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This book provides an ecocritical analysis of the poetry of the famous Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare. It interrogates the intricate interface between time and nature in 11 of Osundare’s defining poetry collections. This is a book of postcolonial ecocriticism from an African perspective. It brings together the ecocritical theory of animism and theories of geologic time in the discussion of Osundare’s poetry. Osundare shows that animism has a lot to offer in enriching human understanding of the ecosystem. And while he eloquently catalogues problems undermining the health of the earth in this age of the Anthropocene and the Capitalocene in his poetry, he also holds on to the hope of a better future. The book concludes that Osundare’s optimism is what informs his use of poetry to press humankind to rise to the duty of salvaging the environment. Deploying an interdisciplinary approach that stretches across the fields of literature, religion, geology, physics, economics, and anthropology, this book will be an important read for those looking for fresh ways to understand Osundare’s poetry and African nature writing.


The Eye of the Earth

The Eye of the Earth

Author: Niyi Osundare

Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) Limited

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13:

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A lyrical and panoramic body of poems from the prize-winning poet, informed by a revolutionary vision about the earth, our home.


Songs of the Season

Songs of the Season

Author: Niyi Osundare

Publisher: Fourth Dimension Publishing Company

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13:

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These poems from one of Africa's most highly acclaimed poets and the winner of the 1991 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, are an ironic celebration of collective aspirations, failures, guilts and hopes. They call for change in a society wracked with problems. The poet sets out to produce a collection that captures the significant happenings of the time in a tune that is simple, accessible, topical, relevant, and artistically pleasing and, as he puts it: 'to remind kings about the corpses which line their way to the throne, to show the rich the slums which fester behind their castles, to praise virtue, denounce vice, to mirror the triumphs and travails of the downtrodden, to celebrate the green glory of the rainy season and the brown accent of the dry, to distil poetry from the dust and clay of the vast, prodigious land - songs plucked from the lips of my land in its manifold laughters and sorrows.'


Niyi Osundare, a Literary Biography

Niyi Osundare, a Literary Biography

Author: Sule E. Egya

Publisher: Sevhage/Winepress

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 9789785489903

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In this literary biography, Sule E. Egya, one of Nigeria's most promising scholar-critics, brings the skills of the storyteller and the scholar to bear on his recreation of the Osundare story. The result is a readable coming-of-age story that traces the writer's development from his rural and agrarian roots in Nigeria, through his education in Africa, Europe and North America, to his rise to prominence as one of the most versatile poets writing in English today. There can be no better platform to register the debt that Osundare owes his parentage, the rigorous discipline of his mentors and the diverse environments in which his outlook on the world has been shaped than this carefully crafted biography. Egya highlights Osundare's prodigious talent, his unwavering ethical compass, his infectious humanism, his enduring faith in the capacity of literature to reshape the world, and the harmony between his creative imagination and polemical writing. Readers and critics will find the biography an indispensable companion to reading Osundare not just because of the illuminating personal and cultural information that it offers, but also because it equally periodizes Osundare's work in a way no other book has done. Prof. Oyeniyi Okunoye, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife In Niyi Osundare: A Literary Biography, Sule E. Egya takes us on a journey of the life experiences of the artist-scholar Niyi Osundare. Indeed, there are some books a reader just can't put down. This is one of them. It takes you to the other worlds beyond the popular world of artistry and scholarship of one of Africa's most accomplished men of letters. Dr. Ogaga Okuyade, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island.


FonTomFrom

FonTomFrom

Author: Kofi Anyidoho

Publisher: Rodopi

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 9789042012738

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Includes articles, annotated filmography, interviews, creative writing, and book reviews.


The Word is an Egg

The Word is an Egg

Author: Niyi Osundare

Publisher: Kraft Books

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13:

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Osundare advocates the poetry of performance- performance instructions and musical effects are part of the poems - as at once creative and deeply political. The present collection testifies, wholly convincingly, to the poet's belief that language - the Word - defines personal and social history, expression and identity. 'In the Beginning was not the Word/In the Word was the Beginning', launches the volume and is its constant refrain. Language may sometimes be impotent or illusory - the middle section, 'Silence', reflects upon political censorship, the struggle of illiteracy, and the agonies and ambivalence of writing in the colonial language. But words which commit to 'truth and dream', and preferably, 'throw bridges/Across gulfs of indifferent ears, are the poet's only tool of communication for change.


Early Birds

Early Birds

Author: Niyi Osundare

Publisher: Spectrum Books

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13:

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The second title in a poetry series for younger readers. The author introduces his own work: 'The poems in this series are designed to make you think as you sing, to help you discover the beauty of poetry as a companion of music and the product of human imagination... Many of the poems deal with nature and the environment; rural life and city life; time and the seasons; the foods you eat; little things and big things; 'riddles' which show you the difference between right and wrong; things which make you laugh or cry; and wise sayings which will help increase your wisdom...there are also poems about Nigeria our country, Africa our continent, and the world at large.' Niyi Osundare is perhaps Nigeria's greatest living poet, and one of Africa's finest literary scholars. He is the author of many books of poetry, plays and essays. He has received the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Association of Nigeria Authors' Prize and the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. His works have been translated into half a dozen languages. His poems are accompanied by illustrations and commentaries by fellow literature scholar Ayo Banjo.


Songs of the Marketplace

Songs of the Marketplace

Author: Niyi Osundare

Publisher: Ibadan, Nigeria : New Horn Press

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13:

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Winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for 1986, Niyi Osundare is one of Nigeria's most prominent younger writers. This first collection of his poetry is the expression of a critical awareness in its exploration of the social situation in contemporary Nigeria. In an introduction, Biodun Jeyifo remarks that his distinctive voice is attributable to the fact that his verses confront both poetry of revolution and a revolution of poetry, in terms of forms and techniques. Thirty-five poems are included.


The State Visit

The State Visit

Author: Niyi Osundare

Publisher: Kraft Books

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13:

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A recently published play from the prolific Nigerian poet, dramatist and literary critic, which testifies to the author's commitment to socially relevant art and artistic activism for which he is justifiably renowned. The play tells the story of Yankeland, an imaginary African country, where the country's natural and donated wealth is in the hands of a few corrupt rulers in cahoots with the American military. The powerful prey on the exploited masses, whilst upholding a facade of god-fearing morality. The play is written in the style of street theatre and producs a biting and dramatic satire on political authoritarianism and ignorance, which the author holds responsible for the backwardness of many African countries.The play does however show that such oppression is being challenged; and that the natural inclination of human beings is towards resistance and solidarity, for which Osundare's characters demonstrate great capacity.The courage, unambiguous criticism and optimism in the future are reflected in the performance history of the play itself, which was first staged at the Arts Theatre at the University of Ibadan in 1997, during the time of one of Nigeria's most repressive military dictatorships.


Selected Poems

Selected Poems

Author: Niyi Osundare

Publisher: Heinemann International Literature and Textbooks

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13:

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The poems in this selection testify to Osundare's belief in total poetry, that is poetry enhanced by song, drum and choreography. These are poems to be read and heard, fusing vibrant lyricism with social relevance. The author has won numerous awards for his poetry including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize 1986, the Cadbury Poetry Prize 1989 and in 1991 the Noma Award, Africa's most prestigious book prize. Niyi Osundare is currently Visiting Professor of African Literature at the University of New Orleans.