Niyi Osundare Biography
Niyi Osundare (born in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria, in 1947) is an essayist, writer for the theatre, lecturer and one of Nigeria's most celebrated poet. He has published 18 volumes of poetry, several plays, essays, articles and criticism. Previously a professor at the English Institute of the University of Ibadan, he is currently Distinguished Professor of English at the University of New Orleans.
His poetry combines concepts and traditions of the Yoruba culture with Marxist approaches. He uses mythological concepts to underline his struggle against social injustice and inhumanity.
Niyi Osundare’s prizes include the 1991 Noma Award, the 1998 Fonlon-Nichols Award and the 2008 Tchicaya U Tam’si Award for African Poetry, one of Africa’s most prestigious poetry prizes. In 2014 he received the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award, Nigeria’s highest distinction for outstanding creative and intellectual achievement.
The Lion stakes his claim
To the leadership of the pack
But the Antelopes remember
The ferocious pounce of his paws
...
Deep green, my testament, as I forage
through this forest of vanished glories,
my memory one shell of naked echoes
...
The moon is playing hide-and-seek
Behind the clouds. A mellow smile
Lingers on the lips of the sky
...
I stay very long in the river
And I become a fish
With a head made of coral
And fins which tame the distance
Of billowing depths
...
In the Beginning was not the Word
In the Word was the Beginning
Unwind the wind
...
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