Cyprian EkwensiCyprian Ekwensi (born 1921) is a Nigerian writer who stressed description of the locale and whose episodic style was particularly well suited to the short story. Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi was born at Minna in Northern Nigeria on September 26, 1921. He later lived in Onitsha in the Eastern area. He was educated at Achimota College, in lbadan, the Gold Coast, and at the Chelsea School of Pharmacy of London University.
He lectured in pharmacy at Lagos and was employed as a pharmacist by the Nigerian Medical Corporation. Ekwensi married Eunice Anyiwo, and they had five children. After favorable reception of his early writing, he joined the Nigerian Ministry for Information and had risen to be the director of that agency by the time of the first military coup in 1966. After the continuing disturbances in the Western and Northern regions in the summer of 1966, Ekwensi gave up his position and relocated his family at Enugu. He became chair of the Bureau for External Publicity in Biafra and an adviser to the head of state, Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. Ekwensi began his writing career as a pamphleteer, and this perhaps explains the episodic nature of his novels. This tendency is well illustrated by People of the City (1954), in which Ekwensi gave a vibrant portrait of life in a West African city. It was the first major novel to be published by a Nigerian. Two novellas for children appeared in 1960; both The Drummer Boy and The Passport of Mallam Ilia were exercises in blending traditional themes with undisguised romanticism. Ekwensi's most widely read novel, Jagua Nana, appeared in 1961. It was a return to the locale of People of the City but boasted a much more cohesive plot centered on the character of Jagua, a courtesan who had a love for the expensive. Even her name was a corruption of the expensive English auto. Her life personalized the conflict between the old traditional and modern urban Africa. Ekwensi published a sequel in 1987 titled Jagua Nana's Daughter. Burning Grass (1961) is a collection of vignettes concerning a Fulani family. Its major contribution is the insight it presents into the life of this pastoral people. Ekwensi based the novel and the characters on a real family with whom he had previously lived. Between 1961 and 1966 Ekwensi published at least one major work every year.
The most important of these were the novels, Beautiful Feathers (1963) and Iska (1966), and two collections of short stories, Rainmaker (1965) and Lokotown (1966). Ekwensi continued to publish beyond the 1960s, and among his later works are the novel Divided We Stand (1980), the novella Motherless Baby (1980), and The Restless City and Christmas Gold (1975), Behind the Convent Wall (1987), and Gone to Mecca (1991). Ekwensi also published a number works for children. Under the name C. O. D. Ekwensi, he released Ikolo the Wrestler and Other Ibo Tales (1947) and The Leopard's Claw (1950). In the 1960s, he wrote An African Night's Entertainment (1962), The Great Elephant-Bird (1965), and Trouble in Form Six (1966). Ekwensi's later works for children include Coal Camp Boy (1971), Samankwe in the Strange Forest (1973), Samankwe and the Highway Robbers (1975), and Masquerade Time! (1992), and King Forever! (1992).
In recognition of his skills as a writer, Ekwensi was awarded the Dag Hammarskjold International Prize for Literary Merit in 1969.
Ekwensi died on 4 November 2007 at the age of 86 at the Niger Foundation in Enugu, where he underwent an operation for an undisclosed ailment
Tributes:
Nigeria: Cyprian Ekwensi (1921 - 2007)AllAfrica.com, Washington - 14 minutes agoThe death on November 4, 2007 of Cyprian Odiatu Duakwa Ekwensi robbed Nigeria of one of its illustrious sons. Even though he had trained as a forester and ...
nigeria: cyprian ekwensi - exit of the master storytellerAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 20, 2007just over two weeks ago, nigeria lost a pathfinder in literary exertions by the name cyprian ekwensi. for six decades, he authored about 40 novels and ...
re: eaglet thieves and super eagle robbersNigerian Tribune, Nigeria - 11 hours agojulius abega, makurdi. the death of cyprian ekwensi is a great loss to the nation but thank god he lived a heroic life and died as a hero. it is not how ...
Nigerian Tribune
If accountants can fix it, who needs journalists anyway? (1)Nigerian Tribune, Nigeria - 11 hours agoLast week, the renowned author Cyprian Ekwensi (“Jaguar Nana”) died at the age of 86. Not many people will remember that about 45 years ago there was an ...
ekwensi: exit of a literatiNigerian Tribune, Nigeria - Nov 18, 2007... ekwensi found it difficult, from an early stage in life to resist the call of the pen. in the typical igbo folklore, cyprian ekwensi was like the ...
writers urge fg, lagos state govt to immortalise cyprian ekwensiVanguard, Nigeria - Nov 17, 2007on sunday november 4, the association of nigerian authors (ana) lagos, lost one of their own, cyprian ekwensi (mfr), a novelist and fore-runner of the ...
nigeria: authors pay tribute to cyprian ekwensiAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 6, 2007the association of nigerian authors (ana) and other writers yesterday paid tribute to the late veteran novelist, cyprian ekwensi, who died on sunday at 86. ...
Nigeria: Cyprian Ekwensi, Foremost Writer, Dies at 86AllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 6, 2007Chief Cyprian Odiatu Duakwa Ekwensi, author of several popular novels and short stories, is dead. He died at the age of 86. Ekwensi was born in Minna in ...
nigeria: cyprian ekwensi dies at 86AllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 6, 2007one of the nation's greatest literary writers, chief cyprian odiatu duaka ekwensi, has died at the age of 86. ekwensi died on sunday november 4 at the niger ...
nigeria: fg, ohanaeze, onoh mourn ekwensiAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 6, 2007... ohanaeze ndigbo and former governor of old anambra state, chief christian onoh, yesterday expressed shock over the death of chief cyprian ekwensi, ...
Nigeria: Ohanaeze, Onoh, Others Mourn EkwensiAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 6, 2007Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, expressed shock over the death of renowned writer and public commentator, Cyprian Ekwensi saying his demise was a great loss to ...
Nigeria: Ode to a Literary ColossusAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 14, 2007I first met Cyprian Ekwensi in the 70s in his novel: The Drummer Boy which some confuse with Florence Nightingale's The Drummer Boy. ...
‘how ekwensi got literary inspiration’The Tide, Nigeria - Nov 12, 2007mr victor ekwensi, the younger brother to deceased nigerian author, cyprian ekwensi said his brother got the inspiration for writing from their late father. ...
ANA plans post humous award for EkwensiThe Tide, Nigeria - Nov 11, 2007The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Enugu State branch, will convert the proposed literary honour to the late Nigerian author, Cyprian Ekwensi, ...
Nigerian Tribune
Cyprian Ekwensi in the eyes of NdigboNigerian Tribune, Nigeria - Nov 8, 2007The late Cyprian Ekwensi, a foremost writer and literary giant, will be remembered as one of those who shaped the destiny of Nigeria through his books and ...
Cyprian (COD) Ekwensi, 1921-2007Business Day, Nigeria - Nov 8, 2007A chapter in the nation’s literary annals has closed with the death of veteran novelist, pharmacist and public commentator, Cyprian Ekwensi, Monday, ...
Cyprian Ekwensi, famed Nigerian Author passes away.ClickAfrique, UK - Nov 5, 2007One the fathers of modern Nigerian literature Cyprian Ekwensi has passed away at the age of 86. The Nigerian Guardian reported he died in Enugu in eastern ...
‘Ekwensi’s death, loss to modern Nigerian literature’Nigerian Tribune, Nigeria - Nov 5, 2007By Akintayo Abodunrin - 06.11.2007 THE demise of veteran novelist, Cyprian Ekwensi, has been described as the loss of a key architect of modern Nigerian ...
AfricaNews
renowned nigerian author, ekwensi, diedAfricaNews, Netherlands - Nov 5, 2007one of nigeria's most acclaimed authors, cyprian ekwensi, has died at the age of 86, the guardian newspaper reported monday. ekwensi reportedly died at the ...
Nigeria: Our Literature And Its Disappearing EldersAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 10, 2007News of the death of Cyprian Ekwensi this week, took time to spread, almost like a non-event, and yet, an Ekwensi event should be accorded the deserved ...
Nigeria: Those Interesting Dimensions of PoliticsAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 8, 2007Just a few days ago, I had been wondering that I had not heard anything about the venerable old man, Cyprian Ekwensi, for a long while. ...
Daily Sun
photo: sun news publishingDaily Sun, Nigeria - Nov 10, 2007for many years cyprian ekwensi, was a byword not only in nigeria but worldwide. a trained pharmacist, he won renown in creative writing, ...
• ANA to immortalize himDaily Sun, Nigeria - Nov 5, 2007Another member of the family, Engr. Nwankwo told Daily Sun that the late Cyprian Ekwensi was not seriously sick, "apart from the normal sickness associated ...
Africa: Review of African BlogsAllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 9, 2007"I am deeply saddened by this news of the death of the pioneer Nigerian novelist Cyprian Ekwensi this week. He was 86. Ekwensi, the author of arguably the ...
Taking on the EUBusiness Day, Nigeria - Nov 14, 2007I feel compelled to add my own tribute to the many already bestowed on Cyprian Ekwensi who has passed on at the ripe age of 86. I have always felt that he ...
a good night to proseNigerian Tribune, Nigeria - Nov 7, 2007my first encounter with cyprian odiatu duaka ekwensi was in the second ary school when we had to read one of his books. the soul-stirring tale of hope and ...
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