Renowned Nigerian poet, John Pepper Clark, popularly called J.P. Clark passed on today.The poet, born on December 6, 1933, was the younger brother of a former federal commissioner for information and South-South leader, Edwin Clark.
In no particular order, TheNewsGuru (TNG) takes a look at 7 things you need to know about the iconic literary luminary.
- J.P Clark began his literary journey at the University of Ibadan as a student of English, where he founded and edited various magazines, including The Beacon and The Horn.
2.In 1982, Mr Clark founded the PEC Repertory Theatre in Lagos, alongside with his wife Ebun Odutola, a professor and former director of the Centre for Cultural Studies at the University of Lagos.
3.Born in Kiagbodo, Nigeria, to an Ijaw father and Urhobo mother, Clark received his early education at the Native Authority School, Okrika (Ofinibenya-Ama), in Burutu LGA (then Western Ijaw) and the prestigious Government College in Ughelli, and his BA degree in English at the University of Ibadan.
4.Asides poetry, Mr Clark was also reputable for great theatrical works including Song of a Goat – which premiered at the Mbari Club in 1961, a tragedy cast in the Greek classical mode in which the impotence of Zifa, the protagonist, causes his wife Ebiere and his brother Tonye to indulge in an illicit relationship that resulted in suicide.
- Clark’s contribution to other genres includes his translation of the Ozidi Saga (1977), an oral literary epic of the Ijaw that in its local setting would normally take seven days to perform,his critical study The Example of Shakespeare (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970), in which he articulates his aesthetic views about poetry and drama and his journalistic essays in the Daily Express, Daily Times, and other newspapers.
- Since his retirement from the Nigerian academia, he has held visiting professorial appointments at several institutions abroad, including Yale and Wesleyan University in the United States.
- On 6 December 2011, to honour the life and career of Professor John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo, a celebration was held at Lagos Motor Boat Club, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, for the publication of J. P. Clark: A Voyage, The definitive biography of the main animating force of African poetry, written by playwright Femi Osofisan.