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Zulu Sofola

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Zulu Sofola (22 June 1935 – 5 September 1995)[1] was the first published female Nigerian playwright and dramatist.[2] Sofola was also a university teacher and became the first female Professor of Theater Arts in Africa.[citation needed]

Biography

Nwazuluwa Onuekwuke Sofola[3] was born in the former Bendel State to Nwaugbade Okwumabua and Chief Ogana Okwumabua who were Igbo from Issele-Uku, Aniocha North Local Government Area, presently in Delta State. She attended Federal Government Primary School in Asaba and the Baptist Girls High School in Agbor all in Delta State.[citation needed] Due to her outstanding performance in school, she was awarded a scholarship to complete her high school education in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.[citation needed] Spending her adolescence and early womanhood in the US, she studied at Southern Baptist Seminary, earned a BA in English at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia in 1959.[citation needed] She obtained her MA in Drama (Play writing and Production) from The Catholic University of America in Washington DC in the year 1965.[1] She returned to Nigeria in 1966, and became a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, where she obtained a PhD in Theatre Arts (Tragic Theory) in 1977.[citation needed]

Career

Her plays "range from historical tragedy to domestic comedy and use both traditional and modern African setting".[4] She uses "elements of magic, myth and ritual to examine conflicts between traditionalism and modernism in which male supremacy persists."[5] She was considered one of the most distinguished women in Nigerian literature.[6] She remains a source of inspiration to young African writers. Sofola's most frequently performed plays are Wedlock of the Gods (1972) and The Sweet Trap (1977),[5] She died in 1995 at the age of 60.

Achievements

  • Scholarly awards and distinctions both nationally and internationally.[7]
  • Recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.[8]
  • Represented Nigeria at the first International Women Playwrights Conference.[9]

Selected works

  • The Deer Hunter and The Hunter's Pearl (1969), London: Evans Brothers.[10]
  • The Disturbed Peace of Christmas (1971), Ibadan: Daystar Press.[10][11]
  • Wedlock of the Gods (1972), Ibadan: Evans.[12]
  • The Operators, Ibadan: Ibadan University, 1973.[citation needed]
  • King Emene: Tragedy of a Rebellion (1974), Heinemann Educational Books. ISBN 0-435-92860-0
  • The Wizard of Law (1975), Evans Bros. ISBN 0-237-49951-7
  • The Sweet Trap (1977); Ibadan: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-575386-0
  • Old Wines Are Tasty (1981), Ibadan: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-154-499-6
  • Memories in the Moonlight (1986), Ibadan: Evans Brothers.[13]
  • Queen Omu-ako of Oligbo, Buffalo: Paul Robeson Theatre, 1989.[14]
  • Eclipso and the Fantasia, Illorin, Nigeria: 1990.[15]
  • The Showers, Illorin, Nigeria: 1991.[16]
  • Song of a Maiden: A Play, Illorin, Nigeria: Heinemann, 1992.[citation needed]
  • Lost Dreams and Other Plays, Ibadan: Heinemann, 1992.[16]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b Biography Archived 2013-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, ′Zulu Sofola official website.
  2. ^ "Nigeria's female writers have arrived" Archived May 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Sun newspaper (Nigeria), 11 December 2005.
  3. ^ Ifeanyi Iyegbu, "Nwazuluwa Onuekwuke Sofola", Issele-Uku Association of North America.
  4. ^ Margaret Busby, Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent, London: Jonathan Cape, 1992, p. 450.
  5. ^ a b "Sofola, Zulu", in Martin Banham, Errol Hill & George Woodyard (eds), The Cambridge Guide to African & Caribbean Theatre, Cambridge University Press, 1994; p. 82.
  6. ^ Africa Database Archived October 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Woman.NG (2017-12-23). "First Women: Zulu Sofola - The First Female Professor Of Theatre Arts In Africa". Woman.NG. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  8. ^ "bookshy: 56 Years of Nigerian Literature: 'Zulu Sofola". bookshy. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  9. ^ Fitzsimmons, Linda (May 1989). "First Women Playwrights Conference". New Theatre Quarterly. 5 (18): 123–123. doi:10.1017/s0266464x00003018. ISSN 0266-464X.
  10. ^ a b "Nigeria—The Challenge of (and for) the Female Playwright". Critical Stages/Scènes critiques. 2017-06-25. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  11. ^ Eni, Kenneth Efakponana (2012). "Zulu Sofola and the Nigerian Theatre Influences and Traditions". Creative Artist: A Journal of Theatre and Media Studies: 154–169. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  12. ^ Fuchs, Anne (1999). New Theatre in Francophone and Anglophone Africa: A Selection of Papers Held at a Conference in Mandelieu, 23-26 June, 1995. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-0725-3.
  13. ^ Sofola, Zulu. (1986). Memories in the moonlight. Ibadan: Evans Brothers. ISBN 978-978-167-176-0.
  14. ^ "PAUL ROBESON THEATRE NOISY 'QUEEN OMU-AKO' OFFERS A LOOK AT WEST AFRICAN CULTURE". The Buffalo News. 1989-05-03. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  15. ^ "SOFOLA, 'Zulu". Encyclopedia.com. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ a b Publications, Europa (2003). International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-85743-179-7.
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