Writing
His most famous poem is "Piano and Drums". Another popular poem, "You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed", is a frequent feature of anthologies. Okara is very concerned with what happens when the ancient culture of Africa is faced with modern Western culture, as in his poem "Once Upon a Time". He pursues that theme in his novel The Voice (Africana Publishing: ISBN 0-8419-0015-9) Its protagonist Okolo, like countless post-colonial Africans, is hunted by society and haunted by his own ideals.
In addition to his poetry and fiction, Okara has also written plays and features for broadcasting.
Many of his manuscripts were destroyed during the Nigerian Civil War.
Bibliography
- 1970 The Voice - novel
- 1978 The Fisherman's Invocation - poetry
Read more about this topic: Gabriel Okara
Famous quotes containing the word writing:
“I have spent so long erecting partitions around the part of me that writes—learning how to close the door on it when ordinary life intervenes, how to close the door on ordinary life when it’s time to start writing again—that I’m not sure I could fit the two parts of me back together now.”
—Anne Tyler (b. 1941)
“For your writing and reading, let that appear when there is no need of such vanity.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)