Biography Of A Soldier Who Turned Author.
Elechi Amadi a well known Nigerian author and a former soldier (MFR), born on the 12 May 1934 in Aluu, Rivers State, Nigeria. He was a former member of the Nigerian Armed Forces. He was an author of plays and novels that are generally about African village life, customs, beliefs, and religious practices prior to contact with the Western world. Elechi Amadi is best regarded for his 1966 debut novel, The Concubine, which has been called "an outstanding work of pure fiction".



Notable Works
Elechi Amadi worked for a time as a land surveyor and later was a teacher at several schools, including the Nigerian Military School, Zaria (1963–66). He served in the Nigerian army, remained there during the Nigerian Civil War, and retired at the rank of captain. He then held various positions with the Rivers State government: Permanent Secretary (1973–83), Commissioner for Education (1987–88) and Commissioner for Lands and Housing (1989–90).



Books
Elechi Amadi is famous for his works The Concubine (1966). Elechi Amadi first publication was in 1957, a poem entitled "Penitence" for a magazine called The Horn, during his time at the University of Ibadan campus. His debut novel, The Concubine, was published in London in 1966, rooted firmly among the hunting and fishing villages of the Niger delta, was very much well accepted in Africa and worldwide. The Concubine was made into a film, written by Elechi Amadi and directed by accomplished Nollywood film director Andy Amenechi, which was premiered in Abuja in March 2007.

Elechi Amadi's second novel, The Great Ponds, published in 1969, setting in pre-colonial Eastern Nigeria, and is about the battle between two village communities over possession of a pond. In 1973 Amadi autobiographical non-fiction, Sunset in Biafra, was published. It records his personal experiences in the Nigeria-Biafra war.

Before his death, Elechi Amadi released his last book, When God Came. He turned for the first time to the genre of science fiction, and was hailed as an iconic masterpieces.

Other Books:

Isiburu (play) - 1973
Peppersoup and The Road (plays, combined volume) - 1977
Dancer of Johannesburg (play) - 1978
The Slave (novel) - 1978
Ethics in Nigerian Culture (philosophy) - 1982
Estrangement (novel), Heinemann African Writers Series - 1986
The Woman of Calabar (play) - 2002
Speaking and Singing (essays and poems) - 2003
Collected Plays - 2004


Elechi Amadi Kidnapping
On 5 January 2009 Amadi was kidnapped at his home in Aluu town, Ikwerre, by unknown gunmen. He was released on the evening of 6 January, 23 hours later. >>>> 👇👇👇

Continue reading full article here

https://www.essiebookblog.com.ng/2024/02/authors-corner-elechi-amadi-biography.html?m=1