Arrangements have been concluded to honour eminent theatre director, actor, critic, poet, novelist, editor and newspaper columnist, Professor Femi Osofisan, who clocks 70 next year, with an international conference themed ‘Femi Osofisan, Post-Negritude Tradition and 50 Years of Nigerian Literary Drama’ .
Being jointly organised by Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, Department of Classics, University of Ibadan, and Ibadan Literary Society, the conference will take place at the Conference Centre, University of Ibadan from June 13 to 17, 2016.
A statement inviting papers from scholars, explained that the conference would reflect on the interdisciplinary contributions of Professor Osofisan to academia, and his use of African performance culture to expose societal ills through drama.
The themes of the conference include but is not limited to: ‘The drama and theatre of Femi Osofisan’; ‘Femi Osofisan and the performance of poetry in Nigeria’; ‘The culture of adaptations and re-readings in Nigerian drama’; ‘African diasporan cultural encounters: the nature of classics’; ‘The Classical tradition and influence on Nigerian literature’ and ‘Dance and music in the drama of Femi Osofisan’. Others are ‘Fiction and popular journalism in Nigeria’; ‘Film and Television: The Visitors Series of Detective Drama’; ‘Film and Television: Nollywood’ and ‘Arts Management and Cultural Administration.’
The deadline for the submission of abstract is December 16, 2015 and all abstracts are to be sent to [email protected]
Born on June 16, 1946 in Erunwon, Ogun State, Osofisan has had a distinguished career. He is Emeritus Professor of Drama, University of Ibadan and Distinguished Professor, Kwara State University, Nigeria. He is a theatre director, actor, critic, poet, novelist, editor and newspaper columnist.
Osofisan has written and produced more than 60 plays, five volumes of poetry, four novels and several collections of essays. Since winning the 1st Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service [WNBS] Prize for Independence Anniversary Essay in 1965 with ‘Five Years Ago’, Osofisan has won several other awards, including the first Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Literature award in 1983 for ‘Morountodun and Other Plays’ and later for Drama with ‘Yungba-Yungba and the Dance Contest’ in 1993.
‘Minted Coins’, a collection of poetry written under the pseudonym Okinba Launko, won the ANA Poetry Prize and the Regional Commonwealth Poetry Award for First Collection in 1987. In 2000, he was short-listed for the prestigious Neustadt Prize in the USA.
Osofisan was also a Drama Consultant to the Second World Festival of Black and African Arts and Culture (Festac ’77), the Cultural Olympiad, 1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta, and Movement for Mass Mobilisation, Social and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), Abuja, Nigeria (1989). He was also the President of ANA (1988-1990) and PEN, Nigeria (2004-2010), and one time General Manager and Chief Executive of the National Theatre, Lagos, Nigeria.
Osofisan’s plays have been performed in many countries, where he has also held teaching or research fellowships, including Japan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Lesotho, China, USA, Canada, UK, France, South Africa; his plays are among the most produced in Nigeria.
He is a founding member and Literary Editor of the first Editorial Board of The Guardian, Lagos (1983-84); Founder and Artistic Director, Kakaun Sela Kompani (1979) and CentreSTAGE-Africa [the Centre for Studies in Theatre and Alternative Genres of Expression in Africa, a non-governmental trusteeship organisation]; and Founder and Editor of Opon Ifa, a poetry chap-book (1974), which later became Opon Ifa Review, a quarterly journal of the arts, primarily for creative writing.
The contact persons for the conference include Dr. Tunde Awosanmi of the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan; Dr. Kunbi Olasope of the Departments of Theatre Arts , University of Ibadan; Dr. Sola Adeyemi of the University of Greenwich, London and Mr. Jahman Anikulapo, artiste and culture advocate.