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Fidelis Uchenna Okoro

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Nigerian poet, novelist, playwright, musician and film producer

Fidelis Uchenna Okoro (died 2021), also known as Fidoko, was a Nigerian poet, novelist, playwright, musician and film producer. As a faculty member of the University of Nigeria, he authored two novels, two poetry collections, and five plays; co-edited a poetry collection; released three albums; and produced four films.

Education

Okoro graduated from the University of Nigeria in the 1990s.

Career

Academic

Okoro joined the teaching staff of the university in May 1997. He was a senior lecturer in the Department of English and Literary Studies at the University of Nigeria.

He co-edited Africa and World Literature: University of Nigeria Journal of Literary Studies and was an editorial advisor for The Muse, the student journal at the University of Nigeria. In 2022, The Muse created the Fidelis Okoro Prize for Poetry, sponsored by Friday Romanus, in his honor.

Writing

Okoro authored two novels, two poetry collections, and five plays. He also co-edited Apples of Gold: A Pageant of Modern Nigerian Poems with Emeka Joseph Otagburuagu.

In 1998, Okoro published his first full-length work, a play entitled Wisdom of the Ostrich. He later published the plays Joys of War (2000), Prof Zemzi’s Last Rehearsal (2005), Quagmire (2010), and Preamble to Apocalypse (2016). Quagmire was the runner-up for the 2010 ANA/J.P. Clark Drama Prize. The same year, he was shortlisted for the NNDC Prize for Drama.

Okoro's third full-length publication was the novel The Rape of Regina (2002), which was followed by Cracking the Shell (2013). Cracking the Shell was shortlisted for the 2009 ANA/Jacaranda Prose Prize.

Okoro published his first poetry collection, When the Bleeding Heart Breaks, in 2006. The collection became the first runner-up for the 2006 ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize. His second collection, Pimples and Dimples, was published in 2012 and was the first runner-up for the 2012 ANA/Gabriel Okara Poetry Prize.

Music

Okoro released three albums: One More Mile, Call on Me (2008), and Baby Kpurunu m Ishi.

Film

In 2006, Okoro founded Fidoko Films International. With the company, he produced and direct four films: Saved by Sin (2007), Peace of the Graveyard, Uzumagada: The Search for Inspiration, and Paradisico.

Personal life

Fidelis Okoro was a devout Jehovah’s Witness. He died from leukemia on June 22, 2021.

Filmography

  • Saved by Sin (2007)
  • Peace of the Graveyard
  • Uzumagada: The Search for Inspiration
  • Paradisico

Publications

Novels

Poetry

  • When the Bleeding Heart Breaks. El 'Demark Publishers. 2006. ISBN 978-9-788-06179-3.
  • Pimples and Dimples. 2012.

Plays

  • Wisdom of the Ostrich (1998)
  • Joys of War. New Generation Books. 2000. ISBN 978-978-2900-51-7.
  • Prof Zemzi’s Last Rehearsal (2005)
  • Quagmire (2010)

References

  1. ^ Ibrahim, Abubakar A. (5 December 2010). "The many talents of Fidelis Okoro". Daily Trust. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  2. "Notes on the Contributors" (PDF). Okike: An African Journal of New Writing (32): 130. February 1996.
  3. ^ Oluigbo, Chuks (24 June 2021). "Fidoko: The man and his art". Businessday NG. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  4. "Contributors" (PDF). The Muse. 44: 2. July 2016.
  5. "The 2022 Literary Arts Festival and Unveiling of The Muse no. 49 Journal". The Muse Journal. 26 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  6. Agu, Innocent; Amoniyan, Oluwasegun; Agu, Evangelist; Pembi, Clement (February 2020). "Portrayal of Feminine Gender in Okoro's Prof Zemzi's Last Rehearsal". Fuwgestj: Journal of the General Studies Unit. 2 (3). Federal University, Wukari: 5–21.
  7. Ugwuanyi, Kingsley O.; Ekeh, Sosthenes N. (October 2015). "Shifting the Borders: Genre-crossing in Modern Africa Drama". Research Innovator. 2 (5): 1–11.
  8. Udengwu, Ngozi; Nnanna, Ndubuisi; Obasi, Nelson (June 2022). "Women in Internally Displaced Persons' camps, a halfway house or a purgatory: Discourse analysis of Embers and Preamble to Apocalypse" (PDF). IKENGA International Journal of Institute of African Studies. 23 (2): 1–37. doi:10.53836/ijia/2022/23/2/004.
  9. ^ "Fidelis Uchenna Okoro: Immortalised in Art". The Nation Newspaper. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  10. Umezurike, Gideon Uzoma (June 2017). "Redemptive Fantasy, Restoration and the Exigencies of Kleos and Nostos in F. U. Okoro's Cracking the Shell". The Muse. 45.

Further reading

External links

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