Christopher Okigbo
Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo (born August 16, 1932 in Ojoto , Eastern Nigeria , † 1967 near Nsukka ) was a Nigerian poet. His poems take up Greek mythology and the classics of European literature as well as the Igbo tradition .
Life
Christopher Okigbo was one of four children of James Okigbo and Anna Onugwalobi-Okigbo, a Catholic family. He studied classical philology at the University of Ibadan and was then a civil servant, teacher, librarian and manager of Cambridge University Press for West Africa. In Ibadan, through the Mbari Club, he came into contact with the authors led by Wole Soyinka and John Pepper Clark . His poems took up the political situation in independent Nigeria and foresaw many things. When the Biafra War broke out, he had to give up a publishing project with Chinua Achebe and joined the Biafra army . He became a major but fell near the town of Nsukka in September 1967 . Posthumously he was awarded the National Order of Merit of the short-lived Republic of Biafra.
In 2007, the collected works Christopher Okigbos were added to the list at the World Heritage of UNESCO added.
Works
- Heavensgate (1962, poems)
- Limits (1964, poems)
- Labyrinths with Path of Tunder (1971, poems)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ UNESCO Memory of the World (accessed September 26, 2011)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Okigbo, Christopher |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Okigbo, Christopher Ifekandu (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Nigerian lyric poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 16, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ojoto , Nigeria |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1967 |
| Place of death | at Nsukka |