Renowned Ekiti-born poet, playwright and scholar, Prof. Niyi Osundare, in a historic celebration of African poetry by the Lagos International Poetry Festival (LIPF) would be honored with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.
Osundare, a multiple award-winning Nigerian poet and scholar, is expected in the country to give the keynote address at the 10th edition of the Lagos International Poetry Festival.
The poet laureate is also billed to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event taking place between October 24 and 27 at Alliance Française, The Mike Adenuga Center, Lagos.
The award, the high-point of the three-day programme, rounds off a three-country tour of Europe, America and Africa by the Poet Laureate to receive similar honours.
Osundare’s already feather-studded cap had added to it the 2024 Furious Flower Lifetime Achievement Award and the “Golden Key of Smederevo” at the World Conference on Black Poetry in the United States last month and the ongoing Smederevo City Festival in Serbia in Europe respectively.
For the recipient of Nigeria’s Order of National Merit whose first name, Niyi, means “One deserving of honour,” the development is an ironic fulfilment of fate, having garnered so many recognitions in his career as a literary artist and intellectual.
The Director, Lagos International Poetry Festival, Efe Paul Azino, said the decennial honor, of which Prof Osundare is the first recipient, was to recognize individuals who have made exceptional contributions to shaping and galvanizing poetry in Africa and across the world.
“Your profound impact, masterful craftsmanship, and unwavering commitment to using poetry as a vehicle for social change leave an indelible mark on the African literary landscape. You have inspired generations of poets and redefined the possibilities of African poetry on the global stage. We remain indebted for your contributions,” he wrote in the letter inviting the poet laureate to the literary gathering running with the theme, “The Science of Things.”
As the keynote speaker Osundare will set the note and tone of discourse for a panel to examine the topic: “Does Climate Science Need a New Language?” from his unique perspective as a poet who has long engaged with environmental themes.
Azino believed the renowned literary scholar’s experience would be “invaluable in exploring how poetry and other forms of creative expression can bridge the gap between scientific data and public understanding, potentially reshaping our approach to climate action.
Elaborating on the choice of the theme, Festival Director added, “As we travel deeper into uncertain territory with advances in Artificial Intelligence coinciding with fierce debates on everything, from economic mobility to social identity and climate change, we must rely more dispassionately on the confluent forces of inquiry and imagination, language and experiment, poetry and science, to guide us into more sustainable ways of living, resisting along the way the forces that seek to co-opt them as instruments for advancing political agendas and serving narrow economic interests.
