{"id":73516,"date":"2021-02-10T15:31:12","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T20:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=73516"},"modified":"2025-10-10T10:42:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T14:42:06","slug":"celebrating-black-history-month-the-dualities-of-nduka-otiono","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/celebrating-black-history-month-the-dualities-of-nduka-otiono\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Black History Month: The Dualities of Nduka Otiono"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Celebrating Black History Month: The Dualities of Nduka Otiono\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Nduka Otiono, the Graduate Program Supervisor at Carleton University\u2019s Institute of African Studies<\/a> (IAS), sees duality in almost all that he does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is both a researcher and a creative writer, a cultural activist and a critic. Sometimes he writes in prose and sometimes in poetry. He is Nigerian and his perspective is also Canadian. And it\u2019s no accident that he\u2019s cross-appointed to Carleton\u2019s Department of English and the School of Journalism and Communication.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI think of all these things as tributaries,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cAll these branches of a river, flowing into one main stream, reflect the work that I do as a creative writer, as a scholar, as an educator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nduka
Nduka Otiono<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Otiono was a journalist in Lagos for 15 years before he moved to Canada in 2006 to pursue a PhD in English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. He received a BA and an MA in English language and letters from the University of Ibadan, and wrote award-winning fiction while also serving as general secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and editor of the literary journal The <\/em>Post Express Literary Supplement<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this day, Otiono is an anthologist in a variety of subjects. His latest co-edited books include Polyvocal Bob Dylan: Music, Performance, Literature<\/em><\/a>, a collection of essays that investigates Dylan\u2019s work, and Wreaths for a Wayfarer: An Anthology of Poems in Honour of Pius Adesanmi<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has published his interdisciplinary research widely on the origin and dissemination of popular urban narratives in postcolonial Africa. While he was a Senior Research Assistant to world-renowned author and professor, Chinua Achebe, at Rhode Island\u2019s Brown University in 2012, Otiono won the prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship and joined Carleton\u2019s then three-year-old IAS.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Nduka<\/figure>\n\n\n

Real Change or a Flash in the Sky?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Even on sabbatical year \u2014 traditionally a period of rest \u2014 he is busier than ever. Without the opportunity to travel, he wrote about noticing things during lockdown<\/a>, supervised a PhD student who successfully defended his thesis, completed a co-edited book<\/a>, and worked on a special issue of the IAS Journal of African Studies Nokoko<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nduka<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on several projects also felt essential during such a tumultuous year. The killing of George Floyd last May, followed by outrage and demonstrations around the world, reignited a conversation around social justice. For the hope to emerge, however, first there was this senseless death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The many institutional responses across Canadian society were positive, but Otiono wonders if they will last: \u201cWill this be real change or is this just a flash in the sky?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while the celebration of Black excellence among Canadians and its immigrant populations is appreciated, Black History Month can also be \u201ca very painful marker of how much race defines the contemporary experience.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBlack History Month is great, but we are living it every second.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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During Black History Month, Carleton University is celebrating the many achievements and contributions of our Black community members. Visit our Black History Month page<\/a> through the month of February to read new stories about our staff, faculty, students and alumni.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—
\nMore Stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nduka Otiono, the Graduate Program Supervisor at Carleton University\u2019s Institute of African Studies (IAS), sees duality in almost all that he does. He is both a researcher and a creative writer, a cultural activist and a critic. Sometimes he writes in prose and sometimes in poetry. He is Nigerian and his perspective is also Canadian. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":73518,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[13],"cu_story_tag":[1930,1920],"class_list":["post-73516","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-research-discovery","cu_story_tag-equity-diversity-and-inclusion","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/73516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/73516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97720,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/73516\/revisions\/97720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=73516"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=73516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}