Michael Joseph Chukwudalu Echeruo (born March 14, 1937) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

academic, professor and literary critic from

Umunumo Umunumo () is a town located in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is ...

, Ehime-Mbano LGA,

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo River which flows al ...

. He is the

William Safire William Lewis Safire (; Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. . p. 185.) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He ...

Professor of Modern Letters in the English Department at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

since 1990.

Biography

Echeruo was educated at the

University College, Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a Public Research University, public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an in ...

(now the University of Ibadan) from 1955 to 1960 and was contemporaries with a few notable writers and poets from the college, such as

Christopher Okigbo Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo (16 August 1932 – 1967) was a Nigerian poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet an ...

. He earned his Master's and Ph D degrees from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, Ithaca, New York in 1963 and 1965 respectively. There he was a member of the

Telluride House The Telluride House, formally the Cornell Branch of the Telluride Association (CBTA), and commonly referred to as just "Telluride", is a highly selective residential community of Cornell University students and faculty. Founded in 1910 by A ...

. One of the most versatile of African critics, he has published in English Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama, in the modern English novel. Echeruo was primarily notable as a critic of western writers on Africa, as he viewed himself and his contemporaries as writers fighting for an African viewpoint instead of a western viewpoint on the continent. He is best known in poetry for his collection of poems, ''Mortality'' (1968); in cultural history for his pioneering study of ''Victorian Lagos'' and in lexicography for his ''Dictionary of the Igbo Language'' (Yale 1998). He is currently William Safire Professor of Modern Letters in the English Department of

. He serves currently as a member of the

Modern Language Association of America The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "st ...

(MLA) Committee of the ''New variourum Shakespeare''.

Selected publications

* ''Victorian Lagos: aspects of nineteenth century Lagos life''. Macmillan. *''Igbo-English Dictionary: A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Igbo Language with an English-Igbo Index''. *The dramatic limits of Igbo ritual. (1973) ''Research in African Literatures'', 21-31. *An African diaspora: The ontological project. ''The African Diaspora.'' *''Joyce Cary and the novel of Africa''. London: Longman. *Echeruo, M. J. (1979). ''A matter of identity''. Culture Division, Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports. *Echeruo, M. J. (1992). Edward W. Blyden, WEB Du Bois, and the ‘color complex’. ''The Journal of Modern African Studies'', ''30''(4), 669-684. *WEB Du Bois, and the ‘color complex’. ''The Journal of Modern African Studies'', ''30''(4), 669-684. *Echeruo, M. J. (1962). Concert and theatre in late nineteenth century Lagos. ''Nigeria Magazine'', ''74'', 68-74. *The intellectual context of nineteenth‐century Lagos life *Traditional and borrowed elements in Nigerian Poetry. ''Nigeria Magazine'', ''89''(1966), 142-155.

References

External links

* * * Nigerian male poets 1937 births Living people University of Ibadan alumni Cornell University alumni Syracuse University faculty Igbo poets Igbo educators 20th-century Nigerian poets {{nigeria-poet-stub