“A SPINOFF OF J.P. CLARK’S SONG OF A GOAT, WHO WILL HEAR THE GOAT’S CRY”

ABSTRACT

John Pepper Clark was born on April 6th, 1935 to late Chief Clark Fuludu Bekederemo and Mrs. Poro Clark in Kiagbodo, Nigeria. He was the third son of his parents. He was one of the most lyrical of Nigerian poets whose poetry celebrates the physical landscape of Africa. He was also a journalist, playwright, and scholar-critique who conducted research into traditional Ijaw myths and legends and wrote essays on African poetry. While at the University of Ibadan, Clark founded “The Horn”, a magazine of student poetry. After graduating with a degree in English in 1960, he began his career as a writer and journalist by working as a Nigerian government information officer and then as the features and editorial writer for the daily express in Lagos (1960-62). A year’s study at Princeton university on a foundation grant in his America, their America(1964), in which he attacks American middle class values, from capitalism to black American lifestyles. After a year’s research at Ibadan’s Institute of African Studies, he became a lecturer in English at the University of Lagos and co editor of the literary journal, “Black Orpheus”.