Zulu Sofola
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June 22, 1935
Zulu Sofola | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Nwazuluwa Onuekwuke Sofola June 22, 1935 Bendel State, British Nigeria |
| Died | September 5, 1995 (aged 60) |
| Alma mater | Virginia Union University; The Catholic University of America; University of Ibadan |
| Occupations | Playwright, dramatist, academic |
| Known for | First published female Nigerian playwright; first female Professor of Theatre Arts in Africa |
| Notable work | Wedlock of the Gods (1972), The Sweet Trap (1977) |
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]
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
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
Selected works
- 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]
