Ogaga Ifowodo

Ogaga Ifowodo (born May 14, 1966) is a Nigerian lawyer, scholar, poet, columnist/public commentator and human rights activist. He was awarded the 1998 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, given to writers "anywhere in the world who have fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression.[1]

Ogaga Ifowodo
Born(1966-05-14)May 14, 1966
Oleh, Delta State
NationalityNigerian
EducationUniversity of Benin, Cornell University
OccupationWriter, poet, journalist
Home townOleh, Delta

Biography

Ifowodo was born in Oleh, Delta State of Nigeria.[2] He attended Federal Government College, Warri, for his secondary education. He studied law at the University of Benin (Nigeria) from where he obtained an LL.B in 1989. He was called to the bar in 1991 and has worked for many years as a human rights activist with Nigeria's Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO)[3]. He also attended Cornell University, from where he obtained his PhD in 2008. [4] He also holds the Master of Fine Art (MFA) in poetry, and a PhD in English (post-colonial literary/cultural studies) from Cornell University, New York.[5]

He previously taught poetry and literature at Texas State University, San Marcos.[6] His work has been translated into German, Dutch, Romanian, Turkish and Italian. He served as a commissioner for the Nigerian government from 2016 to 2019. He remains active in the human rights sector, and he currently practices law in Nigeria.

Work as a columnist

Ifowodo is a well-known poet and writer. He has published op-ed articles in virtually all of Nigeria's major newspapers. He wrote the fortnightly column "For Crying Out LOUD!" in Vanguard until July 2016.[7] He has also published four books of poetry and his poems have been widely published in several anthologies and literary journals across the world, including Voices from all Over: Poems with Notes and Activities, The Times Literary Supplement, Poetry International, The Massachusetts Review, Crazyhorse, The Dalhousie Review, Atlanta Review, Mantis, Drumvoices Revue, and Migrations (an Afro-Italian anthology selected by Wole Soyinka for the Lagos Black Heritage Festival)[8].

Arrest and detention

In 1997, while returning from a Commonwealth Heads of Governments Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland, Ifowodo was arrested by the military regime of Sani Abacha regime for calling for stronger sanctions against the dictatorship.[9] He was incarcerated, along other human rights activists, writers, and journalists, including his friends and writer Akin Adesokan and Babafemi Ojudu.[10][11] He was never tried nor released until 1998, following sustained campaigns by Nigerian and international human writers and writer organisations. He was awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, the Free World Award of the Netherlands-based Poets of All Nations and adopted as an honorary member of the PEN Centres of Germany, USA, and Canada.

Excerpts from his detention memoirs have been published in Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing (Heinemann), in New Writing 14 (Granta), in Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper, and on African-Writing.com.[12]

Politics

In 2014, Ifowodo returned to Nigeria from the United States where he had done postgraduate studies and taught for thirteen years. He sought the nomination of the All Progressive Party for a seat in the House of Representatives but, hampered by inadequate financial resources, did not get past the primaries. He had tried unsuccessfully to raise 57 million naira for the bid[13]. In 2016, Ifowodo was appointed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Board of Directors[14]. He served as the federal government commissioner for Delta State until 2019[15].[16]

Collections of poetry

Homeland and Other Poems

Ifowodo's first collection of poems, Homeland and Other Poems was published in 1998 by Kraft Books;[17] a second edition was published in 2008 by Africa World Press[18] It is 69 pages long, a collection "largely written in (and bordering on) the military era of Nigeria... describing the despicable situation of the Nigerian society during the period in question."[19] As a manuscript, it won the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Poetry Prize in 1993.[20][21]

Madiba

Ifowodo's second collection was titled Madiba and was published by Africa World Press. It is 90 pages long.[22] In it, Ifowodo "captures the angst, the failed hopes and the glaring despair of this generation." The collection won the ANA/Cadbury poetry prize in 2003.[23]

The Oil Lamp

Ifowodo's third collection, The Oil Lamp, was published by Africa World Press in 2005.[24][25] It was described as "a deliberate intervention in the Niger Delta debate".[26]

It won the 2005 ANA/Gabriel Okara Poetry Prize.[27]

A Good Mourning

In 2016, Ifowodo released his fourth collection of poetry titled A Good Mourning (Parrésia Publishers). It is a work containing 26 poems over 78 pages.

It was hailed as "a work of "entrancing quality," with a "familiar strangeness... The authenticity of the voice and the resonance that dot every line, are the stuff great and enduring poetry is made of."[28]

A Good Mourning, the author says, is his poetic reflection on "the intimacy of evil",[29][30][31] particularly the devastating blow to the psyche of the people caused by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections[32] "by General Ibrahim Babangida, a military dictator."[33]

In July 2017, A Good Mourning was longlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature, along with ten other works by Nigerian authors.[34][35][36] In August of the same year, it was shortlisted, along with Tanure Ojaide's Songs of Myself and Ikeogu Oke's The Heresiad.[37] The Prize, valued at $100,000 was won by Oke.[38]

Awards and fellowships
  • Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Poetry (1996)[39]
  • The ANA/Cadbury poetry prize (2003).[40]
  • The ANA/Gabriel Okara Poetry Prize (2005)[41]
  • The PEN Centres of the USA[42].
  • Heinrich Böll Foundation (Honorary fellow)[43].
  • The Iowa Writing Programme (fellow)[44].
  • New Word Award of Poets of All Nations based in the Netherlands[45].
  • PEN USA Barbara Goldsmith Freedom-to-Write Award (2008)[46].
  • Honorary membership of the PEN Centres of USA, Germany, Canada[47].
gollark: Duct tape it to your iPhone, say you have a prototype iPhone XII.
gollark: Time should be the X axis. All else is heresy.
gollark: I see. I've never actually played it.
gollark: Eve?
gollark: Haskell has a steep curve of learning.

References
  1. "PEN – Barbara Goldsmith". www.barbaragoldsmith.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  2. "DELSU hosts Ifowodo in a poetry reading, interactive session May 8". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  3. Onumah, Chido (September 29, 2017). "Abuja Literary Society hosts Ogaga Ifowodo to a reading from 'A Good Mourning,' his new book of poems short-listed for the NLNG Nigeria Literature Prize". Chidoonumah.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. "Ogaga Ifowodo – PEN America". PEN America. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  5. "Ogaga Ifowodo". www.nigeriavillagesquare.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  6. "An Interview with Writer-Professor, Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo – SYNCHRONIZED CHAOS". synchchaos.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  7. "For Crying Out Loud Archives – Page 2 of 7 – Vanguard News". Vanguard News. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  8. "'For me, to truly admire a poet, I've to be envious of him or her'". Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics. July 27, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  9. "Ogaga Ifowodo – PEN America". PEN America. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  10. "Ogaga Ifowodo: Slipping a Stone in the Sling of Prose and Poetry - AfricanWriter.com". AfricanWriter.com. January 19, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  11. "A Witness to these Times...The Akin Adesokan Interview - AfricanWriter.com". AfricanWriter.com. May 6, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  12. "African Writing; Essays; Ogaga Ifowodo; The Travel Commissar". www.african-writing.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  13. "APC aspirant, Ifowodo, who begged for campaign funding loses Reps bid - Premium Times Nigeria". December 10, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  14. guardian.ng https://guardian.ng/sunday-magazine/rumbles-in-niger-delta-over-nddc-board-nominees/. Retrieved May 27, 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "Isoko nation hosts Ogaga Ifowodo - Premium Times Nigeria". December 11, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  16. "APC aspirant, Ifowodo, who begged for campaign funding loses Reps bid – Premium Times Nigeria". Premium Times Nigeria. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  17. "HOMELAND and Other Poems, by Ogaga Ifowodo". Africa World Press & The Red Sea Press. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  18. Ifowodo, Ogaga (1998). Homeland and other poems. Africa World Press. ISBN 9781592215942.
  19. "A REVIEW OF OGAGA IFOWODO'S HOMELAND AND OTHER POEMS". Su'eddie in Life n' Literature. August 16, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  20. "PROFILE: Ogaga Ifowodo". Blank POETRY. September 14, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  21. Tunde, Adeniran (December 19, 2016). Fate and Faith. Kraft Books. ISBN 9789789183265.
  22. "Book Review: Madiba - Sabi News". www.sabinews.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  23. "Abuja Literary Society hosts Ogaga Ifowodo to a reading from 'A Good Mourning,' his new book of poems short-listed for the NLNG Nigeria Literature Prize | Chidoonumah.com". www.chidoonumah.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  24. Books, Better World. "New & Used Books from Better World Books | Buy Cheap Used Books Online". Better World Books. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  25. "THE OIL LAMP: Poems, by Ogaga Ifowodo". Africa World Press & The Red Sea Press. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  26. Nwachukwu, McPhilips (February 13, 2006). "Nigeria: The Oil Lamp Is a Deliberate Intervention on Niger Delta Debate". Vanguard (Lagos). Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  27. "Abuja Literary Society hosts Ogaga Ifowodo to a reading from 'A Good Mourning,' his new book of poems short-listed for the NLNG Nigeria Literature Prize | Chidoonumah.com". www.chidoonumah.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  28. "Memory and Trauma in Ogaga Ifowodo's "A Good Mourning" – Premium Times Nigeria". Premium Times Nigeria. September 26, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  29. Ibrahim, Abubakar Adam (October 8, 2017). "My Poetry is a Reflection on the Intimacy of Evil". Daily Trust.
  30. ""No Serious Writer I Know Writes for a Prize" | Interview with Ogaga Ifowodo (video)". ktravula – a travelogue!. October 3, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  31. "Ifowodo: Poets must seek other modes to empower their vision". Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  32. Ifowodo, Ogaga. "A Good Mourning – Ogaga Ifowodo". okadabooks.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  33. "THREE POETS ON THE CUSP OF $100,000 FORTUNE | The Sun News". sunnewsonline.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  34. "The 2017 NLNG Prize for Literature Longlist". Brittle Paper. July 24, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  35. "NLNG Announces Longlist for 2017 Nigeria Literature Prize". Olisa Blogazine. July 22, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  36. "11 poets vie for $100,000 NLNG-sponsored literature prize". Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  37. "Tanure Ojaide, Ogaga Ifowodo and Ikeogu Oke Shortlisted for the 2017 NLNG Prize". Brittle Paper. August 30, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  38. "Ikeogu Oke Awarded the 2017 NLNG Prize for His Poetry Collection The Heresiad". Brittle Paper. October 9, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  39. "Ogaga Ifowodo". PEN America. May 24, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  40. pls (February 20, 2020). "Port Harcourt Literary Society To Host Internationally Acclaimed Poet At February Open Mic Night". Port Harcourt Literary Society. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  41. "'For me, to truly admire a poet, I've to be envious of him or her'". Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics. July 27, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  42. "Ogaga Ifowodo". www.nigeriavillagesquare.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  43. "Barbara Goldsmith - PEN AMERICAN CENTER". www.barbaragoldsmith.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  44. Okoli, Naza Amaeze (January 19, 2016). "Ogaga Ifowodo: Slipping a Stone in the Sling of Prose and Poetry". AfricanWriter.com. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  45. flashpointnews (February 25, 2020). "OGAGA IFOWODO IS GUEST POET FOR PORT HARCOURT LITERARY SOCIETY OPEC MIC EVENT, FEB 28 – Amunnadi". Flash Point News. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  46. "PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award". PEN America. March 19, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  47. "4th Anniversary Issue: Sentinel Poetry Online #49 -contributors". www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
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