The Poetry of Christopher Okigbo

FROM INNOCENCE TO EXPERIENCE: EXPLORE THE PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL EXPERIENCE IN CHRISTOPHER OKIGBO’S POETRY
CHRISTOPHER OKIGBO * HIS LIFE (it’s a rap) * HIS WORKS (a brief overview of his poetry and accomplishments) * REVIEW OF POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND * HIS POETRY
(Three poems will be explored to illustrate the development of the personal and communal experience of Okigbo’s poetry)

* A * B * C

* GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF: * PERSONAL LIFE of Christopher Okigbo * COUNTRY involving the public life of Christopher * POETRY which expresses the growth from innocence to experience * PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IN POETRY (exploring one poem that expresses the personal experience of Christopher Okigbo) * COMMUNAL EXPERIENCE IN POETRY (exploring one poem that expresses the communal experience of Christopher Okigbo)

* WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE CHRISTOPHER OKIGBO’S POETRY?
The two main texts that will be used and referred to during the presentation would be Chrispther Okibgo’s Selected Poems, 1986 Heinemann edition and Modern African Writers: Chrisopher Okigbo: Creative Rhetoric by Sunday o. Anozie, 1972, Evans Brothers Limited edition. Reference would also be made to an article called Christopher Okigbo 1932-1967 by Professor Funso Aiyejina in Brian Cox’s African writers.
HIS LIFE IN A RAP (TO BE READ)
HIS WORKS
Some of the works by Christopher Okigbo includes
Heavensgate 1962
Limits 1964
Poems: Four Canzones 1968
Labyrinths, with Path of Thunder 1971
Collected Poems 1986
Source: Contemporary Literary Criticism

In an article on the author Christopher Okigbo written by Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo, he highlights what Sunday O. Anozie says, who observed that the poetry of “Christopher Okigbo … was beginning to show maturity and coherence in his vision of art, life and society, and greater sophistication in poetic form and phraseology.”

REVIEW OF POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND
So the more that things are repeated the more embedded it will be in our minds so I will briefly rehash a few important points about African poetry so that we will all have a framework to work with during the course of this presentation. 1. African poetry is complex 2. Poetry, music and dance and the rhythmic drum exist in African poetry 3. Colonialism and education influenced the eventual written forms of Africa oral poetry 4. Knowledge of traditional oral forms were converted to the written form 5. African poetry was generally oral and performance poetry
Brief review of the types of African poetry 1. Praise or devotional poetry - honor an individual in religious celebration through poetry 2. Spiritual poetry - expressed in song the desire to be freed or forgiven 3. Cult poetry - poems recited only by those of a particular cult or profession as an incantation at ceremonies or rituals 4. Epic poems - spoke about the history of Africa and the emphasized the achievements of key individuals, gods and goddesses 5. Social poetry - reflected the general impression of a particular occasion

THE POETRY OF CHRISTOPHER OKIGBO has been described as having:
Musical characteristics using traditional features of African culture (Myth, ritual, symbols, imagery, connotative language, contrasts and themes. Some of his poems are described as ambiguous due to unclear allusions. However, the poetry of Christopher reveals the personal and communal journey from innocence to experience. This means that the work of Christopher has developed out of a blameless virtue which is evident in Christopher Okigbo’s poetry. The structural, cultural, social, political, and symbolic features help to perceive and define the author’s reality.
The development of ideas and images in Christopher Okigbo’s poetry influences the personal and communal experience in his poetry
The reception of Christopher Okigbo’s poetry is such that the reader is readily exposed to the private and the public elements in the pieces. in discovering and investigating
LET US DISCOVER ELEMENTS OF

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:
PERSONAL LIFE of Christopher Okigbo
COUNTRY involving the public life of Christopher
POETRY which expresses the growth from innocence to experience
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IN POETRY (exploring one poem that expresses the personal experience of Christopher Okigbo)
COMMUNAL EXPERIENCE IN POETRY (exploring one poem that expresses the communal experience of Christopher Okigbo)

Bibliography

Okigbo, Christopher Ifekandu. Christopher Okigbo. Contemporary Literary Criticism, ©1995 Gale Cengage. Retrieved 17.03.2012. Web. http://www.enotes.com/christopher-okigbo-criticism/okigbo-christopher
Okibgo, Christopher. Selected Poems. Heinemann: London. 1986. Print.
Anozie, Sunday O. Modern African Writers; Chrisopher Okigbo: Creative Rhetoric. London: Evans Brothers Limited. 1972. Print.
Cox, Brian. African writer: Christopher Okigbo 1932-1967 by Professor Funso Aiyejina. New York: Charles Scribner. 1997. Print.

Bibliography: Okigbo, Christopher Ifekandu. Christopher Okigbo. Contemporary Literary Criticism, ©1995 Gale Cengage. Retrieved 17.03.2012. Web. http://www.enotes.com/christopher-okigbo-criticism/okigbo-christopher Okibgo, Christopher. Selected Poems. Heinemann: London. 1986. Print. Anozie, Sunday O. Modern African Writers; Chrisopher Okigbo: Creative Rhetoric. London: Evans Brothers Limited. 1972. Print. Cox, Brian. African writer: Christopher Okigbo 1932-1967 by Professor Funso Aiyejina. New York: Charles Scribner. 1997. Print.