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Gabriel Okara (Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara) was born on 24 April, 1921 in Bomoundi, Eastern Region, British Nigeria, is a Nigerian poet and novelist (1921–2019). Discover Gabriel Okara's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 98 years old?

Popular As Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara
Occupation Novelist, poet
Age 98 years old
Zodiac Sign Taurus
Born 24 April 1921
Birthday 24 April
Birthplace Bomoundi, Eastern Region, British Nigeria
Date of death 2019
Died Place Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Nationality Niger

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 24 April. He is a member of famous poet with the age 98 years old group.

Gabriel Okara Height, Weight & Measurements

At 98 years old, Gabriel Okara height not available right now. We will update Gabriel Okara's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
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Dating & Relationship status

He is currently single. He is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. According to our Database, He has no children.

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Gabriel Okara Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Gabriel Okara worth at the age of 98 years old? Gabriel Okara’s income source is mostly from being a successful poet. He is from Niger. We have estimated Gabriel Okara's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income poet

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Timeline

1921

Gabriel Imomotimi Okara (24 April 1921 – 25 March 2019) was a Nigerian poet and novelist who was born in Bumoundi in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara, the son of an Ijọ chief, was born in Bomoundi in the Niger Delta in 1921.

He was educated at Government College Umuahia, and later at Yaba Higher College.

During World War II, he attempted to enlist in the British Royal Air Force but did not complete pilot training, instead he worked for a time for the British Overseas Airways Corporation (later British Airways).

1945

In 1945 Okara found work as a printer and bookbinder for colonial Nigeria's government-owned publishing company.

He remained in that post for nine years, during which he began to write.

At first he translated poetry from Ijaw into English and wrote scripts for government radio.

1949

He studied journalism at Northwestern University in 1949, and before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70) worked as Information Officer for the Eastern Nigerian Government Service.

1953

After leaving school Okara wrote plays and features for radio, and in 1953 his poem "The Call of the River Nun" won an award at the Nigerian Festival of Arts.

1960

Some of his poetry was published in the literary magazine Black Orpheus, and by 1960 he had won recognition as an accomplished literary craftsman, his poetry being translated into several languages.

1962

He attended the landmark African Writers Conference held on 1 June 1962 at Makerere University College in Kampala, Uganda, along with such writers as Chinua Achebe, Rajat Neogy, Bloke Modisane, Okot p'Bitek, Bernard Fonlon, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Olusegun Olusola, Grace Ogot, Jonathan Kariara, Rebecca Njau, Wole Soyinka, John Pepper Clark, Saunders Redding, Christopher Okigbo, Francis Ademola, Ezekiel Mphahlele, Arthur Maimane, and others.

One of Okara's most famous poems is "Piano and Drums".

Another popular poem, "You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed", is a frequent feature of anthologies.

Okara was very concerned with what happens when the ancient culture of Africa is faced with modern Western culture, as in his poem "Once Upon a Time".

1964

The first modernist poet of Anglophone Africa, he is best known for his early experimental novel, The Voice (1964), and his award-winning poetry, published in The Fisherman's Invocation (1978) and The Dreamer, His Vision (2005).

In both his poems and his prose, Okara drew on African thought, religion, folklore and imagery, and he has been called "the Nigerian Negritudist".

According to Brenda Marie Osbey, editor of his Collected Poems, "It is with publication of Gabriel Okara's first poem that Nigerian literature in English and modern African poetry in this language can be said truly to have begun."

He pursued that theme in his first novel, The Voice (1964).

Its protagonist Okolo, like countless post-colonial Africans, is hunted by society and haunted by his own ideals.

Experimenting linguistically in The Voice, Okara "translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo syntax onto English in order to give literal expression to African ideas and imagery. The novel creates a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional African culture and Western materialism contend.... Okara’s skilled portrayal of the inner tensions of his hero distinguished him from many other Nigerian novelists."

In addition to his poetry and fiction, Okara also wrote plays and features for broadcasting.

Many of his unpublished manuscripts were destroyed during the Nigerian Civil War.

1969

Together with Chinua Achebe, Okara was roving ambassador for Biafra's cause during part of 1969.

1972

From 1972 to 1980 he was director of the Rivers State Publishing House in Port Harcourt.

2017

In April 2017, the Gabriel Okara Literary Festival was held at the University of Port Harcourt in his honour.

The publication in May 2017 of the book Gabriel Okra, edited by Professor Chidi T. Maduka, addressed Okara's "place in African literature and the fact that he has not been given his full due in African literature", which was partly attributable, said Lindsay Barrett, to Okara (like himself) not having been "university-based", while Odia Ofeimun acknowledged Okara as "not just the oldest writer but a foundational producer of the literary arts in our part of the world."