Tanure Ojaide (born 1948) is a Nigerian
poet and academic.[1] As a writer, he is noted for his unique stylistic vision and for his intense criticism of imperialism, religion, and other issues. He is regarded as a socio-political and an
ecocentric poet. He won the 2018
Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa with his collection Songs of Myself: A Quartet (2017).[2]
Biography
Tanure Ojaide was born to
Urhobo parents from
Okpara Inland in
Agbon Kingdom of Delta State. He credits his grandmother with having inspired his writing.[3] He attended secondary school at Obinomba and Federal Government College,
Warri, before proceeding to the
University of Ibadan for his degree program in English. He attended
Syracuse University, where he earned an M.A. in Creative Writing and a PhD in English. He later taught at the
University of Maiduguri, before being appointed as Professor at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has been a visiting scholar and has taught at several universities across the world, including at
Delta State University, Abraka and
Kwara State University, Malete.[4] His poetry is widely read and he is known for the infusion of Urhobo folklore and Udje aesthetics in his poetry.[5][6]
Awards
Ojaide has won major national and international poetry awards, including the
Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the Africa region (1987), the BBC Arts and Africa Poetry Award (1988), the All-Africa Okigbo Prize for Poetry (1988 and 1997), the
Association of Nigerian Authors' Poetry Prize (1988, 1994, 2003 and 2011)[4] and the Fonlon-Nichols Award.[7]
In 2016, Ojaide won the
Nigerian National Order of Merit award, the apex and the most important award for scholastic excellence in Nigeria.[8]
In 2017, his poetry collection, Songs of Myself: A Quartet, was the second runner-up in the NLNG Prize for Literature.[9] Three conferences have also been convened in his honour. The most recent one was held from 2 to 5 May 2018 at the
University of Port Harcourt.