Literature in English, which began in the 9th century XIX with bishop Crowther, reveals in the first half of the century. XX, in an important non-fiction production, the rise of nationalism and new social interests (N. Azikiwe, O. Awolowo, A. Bello). Narrative production established itself in the 1950s with two novelists who well represent the Nigerian soul, the imaginative A. Tutuola who resurrects the myths of his land, and the aforementioned Ekwensi, a brilliant descriptor of modern life in the cities. The nationalist spirit inspires the poetry of the so-called pilot poets (Dennis Osadebay, 1911-1994; the poetess Mabel Imoukuede, b. 1930), who consider themselves spokespersons for their people and bearers of a message. A great impulse to literature came from the University of Ibadan, which brought about a deeper awareness of the African reality and its values in the intellectual class. In this center of spiritual fervor, two Germans, Janheinz Jahn and Ulli Beier, founded the literary magazine Black Orpheus (1957-68) and the Mbari club, intended to create a link between black Anglophone and Francophone writers, between black Africans and Americans and between English and vernacular literature. They brought together and made known to the whole world leading artistic personalities such as the poets Christopher Okigbo (1932-1967) and Gabriel Okara (b.1921), the poet and playwright JP Clark (b.1935) and the great playwright, poet and novelist Wole Soyinka (b.1934). To these names must be added those of the poets SF Aboderin, Aig-Imoukhede, T. Astrachan, Aig Higo, O. Martins and the playwright Edyang. These writers reject the literature of the pilot poets and even the dogmas of the négritude; they proclaim the freedom of poetry, refusing to define an African dimension. Also in the field of the novel, where the figure of the greatest African novelist, the Ibo Chinua Achebe, dominates (b.1930), creator of a series of novels focused on the man of Africa and the conflicts determined in him by contact with a new civilization, there are excellent storytellers, such as IM Aluko (1918-1984), E. Amadi (b. 1934), N. Nwankwo (b.1936), Flora Nwapa (b.1931), O. Nzekwo (b.1928), J. Munonye (b.1929), C. Agunwa (b.1936). The Biafra War (1966) marks a breaking point. The abundant literature in English records the prevailing of prose over poetry. Generally realistic, fiction has abandoned the great socio-political frescoes, preferring the concrete problems of city life, or evoking the passions and horrors of the civil war. Alongside the two greatest writers C. Achebe and W. Soyinka, this author whose narrative, poetic and theatrical works are pervaded by a gloomy despair and the authors already mentioned, excellent novelists are known, even internationally, such as INC Aniebo, TO Echewa, O. Egbuna, A. Ekuru, F. Iyayi, J. Munonye, N. Nwanko, K. Omotoso, F. Osofisan, I. Tahir and there are several talented writers. The very rich Nigerian literature of the 1980s, to which the Nobel Prize awarded to Soyinka in 1986 gave international resonance, is characterized by a sense of crisis, frustration and anguished pessimism, but is open to the fight against moral and political breakdown and to the will of rebirth. Among the narrators, among whom a black humor or bitter sarcasm often prevails, L. Aderibigbe, T. Momoh, A, Njoku, B. Okri, K. Saro-Wiwa, the aforementioned TO Echewa stand out. Parallel to this major narrative, a popular production has developed, with sentimental, detective, pidgin. The poetic production is less impressive, with intimate, political and ecological themes. The English-language theater still sees Soyinka in the front row who, with his bizarre and captivating comedies and his strong and incisive dramas, has given the stage art an unmistakable imprint. There are also works that draw inspiration from tradition, such as the Ozidi Saga by Clark, for the Ijo group, or the plays and comedies of W. Ogunyemi (b.1939), for the Yoruba group, and works more adhering to social problems, such as the theater by Ola Rotimi (b.1938), which reveals a keen sense of humor, or the highly politicized ones of F. Osofisan. The young generation appears aware of their ideological commitment, in particular with K. Omotoso, B. Sowande, J. Iroha. Non-fiction, stimulated by the large number of magazines published mainly by universities, is abundant and varied.
Since the 1980s, there has been a sort of explosion of creativity in Nigerian fiction comparable to that which occurred about twenty years earlier, coinciding with the achievement of independence. Alongside a growth in literary production in the African languages spoken in the country, that – of already well-established fame – in English has allowed the appreciation of new talents. Writers such as Festus Iyayi, Obinkaram Echewa and Ben Okri, who emerged after the dark period of the civil war of the 1960s-1970s and members of the “second generation” of Nigerian novelists, have since joined established authors such as Achebe, Ekwensi and Soyinka. According to areacodesexplorer, hugely influenced by developments in public life during Nigeria’s second democratic experiment, under the presidency of Shagari, they all addressed the issue of corruption and the degradation of morality in their works, but it was Soyinka who, in 1995, on the occasion of the first of her pièce The Beatification of Area Boy (held in the United Kingdom: the military regime in power in Nigeria since 1993 has in fact prohibited its representation within national borders) has publicly drawn the attention of the world of international culture to the situation of his country, expressing its solidarity with the friend writer and political activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. The latter, journalist, television author, poet and novelist, had since 1991 dedicated himself to supporting the cause of the Ogoni tribe, whose territory, rich in oil resources, has been subjected to heavy exploitation by the deleterious environmental repercussions; in 1995, accused of being involved in the murder of four Ogoni chiefs, he was executed. Soyinka, exiled from Nigeria, published a memoir in 1994 (Ibadan:); his peer Ekwensi has maintained an intense activity by publishing, in the first half of the nineties, Restless City and Xmas Gold, Behind the Convent Wall, Murder at Mile, Lagos Love Deal, Masquerade Time and King Forever. The younger B. Okri (b.1959), perhaps the best known and most appreciated author by the international public, especially after the publication of the acclaimed The Famished Road (1991), at the same time ventured into poetry with the collection An African Elegy (1992), before returning to fiction with Songs of Enchantment (1993), a touching story of love and transformation centered on the experiences of a spirit-child, Azaro, and later with Astonishing the Gods (1995), a modern fairy tale set on an enchanted island. At the beginning of the 2000s, new young writers appeared on the international limelight: among these we can mention Helon Habila (b. 1967), who became famous with his first novel, Waiting for an Angel (2001), and who then published Measuring Time (2007); Helen Oyeyemi (b.1984), who lives in the UK and who achieved success with the novel The Icarus Girl (2004).
