All is set for the Calabar Study Group to hold a conference in honour of Joseph Akawu Ushie, a renowned Nigerian poet and a leading scholar of African literature at the University of Uyo.
A statement by President, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Malam Denja Abdullahi, said the conference, billed for April 25 to 28, 2018, at the University of Calabar, Cross River state, has theme: ‘Joe Ushie @60: Otherness, Marginality and Social Justice.’
Abdullahi urged ANA members, especially those in the South-south, “To find time to attend this important conference to honour one of our own, a brilliantly dedicated member.”
The statement read in part: “Joe Ushie is one of the strong voices that have, by their consistency and creative industry, established their identities in the canon of Nigerian poetry in the millennium.
“Along with other poets in his generation, Joe Ushie has provided the creative trough that defines contemporary Nigerian and recent African literature at large.
“Characterised by a peculiar lachrymal tone, definitive of the poetics of his generation, Joe Ushie poetry is unique for its compelling eco-consciousness and intemperateness with the social injustice of the present-day Nigeria.
“That eco-concentricity is, In turn, steep in the idiom and cultural mores of his Bendi people of South-South Nigeria. Beyond his poetry, Joe Ushie has committed himself to the creative revival of his people’s folk performance and systematising them for a new world.”
He further stated that: “This can be seen in his patronage and investment in creating two different Bette-Bendi women and men performance troupes Litong and Bendi Traditional Marriage Theatre.
“Joe Ushie has been a long-standing member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) where he had used his experience and expertise to mentor a lot of young and upcoming writers to become compelling writers and scholars.
“He was one-time chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors’ chapter in Akwa-Ibom when the chapter hosted its 31st International Convention in 2012.”
The ANA president said, “He has served the association most diligently in several capacities and the apogee being his co-editing two land marking commemorative books on Chinua Achebe’s works with the current President of ANA, Mallam Denja Abdullahi in 2009 and 2017 respectively.
“The said books are Themes Fall Apart and the Centre
Holds (2009), commemorating the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart and Arrows or Gods ? Essays on the Leadership Question in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God (2017) which also marked the 50th Anniversary of the publication of the Achebe book in 2014.
“The Proposed conference has as confirmed Keynote Speakers and Lead paper presenters, Prof Obododimma Oha(University of Ibadan),Prof Oyeniyi Okunoye (Obafemi Awolowo University,Ife) and Prof. A.S Adagboyin (Ambrose Ali University),” the statement concluded.
