Wikipedia

Zulu Sofola

Nwazuluwa Onuekwuke "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.[3]

Biography

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Nwazuluwa Onuekwuke Sofola[4] 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 Delta State in the south-southern region of Nigeria. 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.[5][failed verification] 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.[6]

Career

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Her plays "range from historical tragedy to domestic comedy and use both traditional and modern African setting".[7] She uses "elements of magic, myth and ritual to examine conflicts between traditionalism and modernism in which male supremacy persists."[8] She was considered one of the most distinguished women in Nigerian literature.[9] 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),[8] She died in 1995 at the age of 60.

Achievements

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  • Scholarly awards and distinctions both nationally and internationally.[10]
  • Recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.[11]
  • Represented Nigeria at the first International Women Playwrights Conference.[12]

Selected works

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  • The Deer Hunter and The Hunter's Pearl (1969), London: Evans Brothers.[13]
  • The Disturbed Peace of Christmas (1971), Ibadan: Daystar Press.[13][14]
  • Wedlock of the Gods (1972), Ibadan: Evans.[15]
  • 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.[16]
  • Queen Omu-ako of Oligbo, Buffalo: Paul Robeson Theatre, 1989.[17]
  • Eclipso and the Fantasia, Illorin, Nigeria: 1990.[18]
  • The Showers, Illorin, Nigeria: 1991.[19]
  • Song of a Maiden: A Play, Illorin, Nigeria: Heinemann, 1992.[citation needed]
  • Lost Dreams and Other Plays, Ibadan: Heinemann, 1992.[19]

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ a b Biography Archived 30 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, ′Zulu Sofola official website.
  2. ^ "Nigeria's female writers have arrived" Archived 25 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sun newspaper (Nigeria), 11 December 2005.
  3. ^ "Zulu Sofola: A legacy of creativity and generosity -". The NEWS. 20 June 2021. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  4. ^ Ifeanyi Iyegbu, "Nwazuluwa Onuekwuke Sofola", Issele-Uku Association of North America.
  5. ^ "Sun 18 May 2014". The Guardian. 18 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Zulu Sofola". ZODML. 23 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  7. ^ Margaret Busby, Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent, London: Jonathan Cape, 1992, p. 450.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Africa Database Archived 17 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Woman.NG (23 December 2017). "First Women: Zulu Sofola - The First Female Professor Of Theatre Arts In Africa". Woman.NG. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  11. ^ "bookshy: 56 Years of Nigerian Literature: 'Zulu Sofola". bookshy. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  12. ^ Fitzsimmons, Linda (May 1989). "First Women Playwrights Conference". New Theatre Quarterly. 5 (18): 123. doi:10.1017/s0266464x00003018. ISSN 0266-464X. S2CID 193205106.
  13. ^ a b "Nigeria—The Challenge of (and for) the Female Playwright". Critical Stages/Scènes critiques. 25 June 2017. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  14. ^ Eni, Kenneth Efakponana (2012). "Zulu Sofola and the Nigerian Theatre Influences and Traditions". Creative Artist: A Journal of Theatre and Media Studies: 154–169. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  15. ^ 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. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  16. ^ Sofola, Zulu. (1986). Memories in the moonlight. Ibadan: Evans Brothers. ISBN 978-978-167-176-0. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  17. ^ "PAUL ROBESON THEATRE NOISY 'QUEEN OMU-AKO' OFFERS A LOOK AT WEST AFRICAN CULTURE". The Buffalo News. 3 May 1989. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  18. ^ "SOFOLA, 'Zulu". Encyclopedia.com. 29 May 2020. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  19. ^ 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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