Harry Garuba

Harry Garuba was born in Akure, southwestern Nigeria, in 1958. [1] At the young age of seventeen he was accepted to study English at the University of Ibadan located in southwestern Nigeria, where he graduated with a BA Honours degree. [2] He continued with a master’s degree and finished his PhD in 1988 at the same university. [3] During his studies, in 1981 he was appointed to lecture at the University of Ibadan where he taught for seventeen years. [4] In 1988,  Garuba completed and submitted his doctoral dissertation, Mask and Meaning in Black Drama: Africa and the Diaspora. [5] A decade later, in 1998, Garuba migrated to South Africa where he took up a post as an English lecturer at the University of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal. [6] In 2001 he became an African Studies and English lecturer at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the Western Cape. [7] During his two decades as a lecturer at UCT he also became involved in international fellowships. He became a Mellon Fellow in 2005 at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre at the University of Texas located in Austin, America. Thereafter, he became a Mandela Fellow at the WEB Dubois Institute at Harvard University in America. [8] In 2017 he also became acting dean in the Faculty of Humanities at UCT [9] His studies included African literature, postcolonial theory and African nationalist writing. [10] His work mainly focused on decolonizing the curriculum and promoting African identity and literature. [11] These works have been widely published, as he co-authored books, wrote over 40 journal articles and book chapters, as well as review essays and encyclopaedia entries. [12] It was due to these works that he is acclaimed by UCT as “a champion of postcolonial theory and postcolonial literature” and a “luminary in the field of African literature”. [13]

Besides Garuba’s academic achievements and lecturing, his legacy is also defined by his interest in the poetry he produced. His first volume of poetry, Shadow and Dream and Other Poems was published by the New Horn Press in Ibadan in 1982. [14] In 1988 he published Voices from the Fringe: An ANA Anthology of New Nigerian Poetry, an anthology of poems by a generation of anglophone Nigerian poets who came after him. [15] In 2017, Garuba produced his final collection of poetry called Animist Chants and Memorials. The three parts or sections into which the collection is divided are Past-Unto-Present; Chants, Spells and Memorials; and Past Present. [16] These works are identified for its recurring motifs of animism, memorials and spells. [17] Consequently, UCT declared him to be a “masterful poet and writer”. [18]

He was diagnosed with leukaemia and passed away on 28 February 2020. He is gone but not yet forgotten, as the dean of the Humanities Faculty, associate professor Shose Kessi stated: “He ... was an African intellectual and icon. He was a mentor to many colleagues and young scholars at UCT.” [19]

He is survived by his wife Zazi and their two children: a son Ruona and a daughter Zukina.

End Notes

[1] Idowu Omoyele, “For 30 Years, I kept Running”, Mail and Guardian, (Uploaded 5 January 2018) (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at https://mg.co.za/article/2018-01-05-00-for-30-years-i-kept-running/ ↵

[2] Ibid. ↵

[3] bid. ↵

[4] Ibid. ↵

[5] Unknown Author, “Obituary – Prof. Harry Garuba (1958 – 2020)”, The Lagos Review, (Uploaded: 29 February 2020), (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://thelagosreview.ng/obituary-prof-harry-garuba-1958-2020/ ↵

[6] Idowu Omoyele, “For 30 Years, I kept Running”, Mail and Guardian, (Uploaded 5 January 2018) (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://mg.co.za/article/2018-01-05-00-for-30-years-i-kept-running/ ↵

[7] Ibid. ↵

[8] F. A. Irele, The Cambridge Companion to the African Novel, vii. ↵

[9] Author Unknown, “Nigeria Loses Another Literary Icon, Professor Harry Garuba”, Channels Television, (Uploaded: 1 March 2020), (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://www.channelstv.com/2020/03/01/nigeria-loses-another-literary-icon-professor-harry-garuba/ ↵

[10] Ololade Bamidele, “Harry Garuba: Memorial to a Songbird at Passage”, Head Topics, (Uploaded: 29 February 2020), (Accessed 1 March 2020), Available at: https://headtopics.com/ng/harry-garuba-memorial-to-a-songbird-at-passage-by-ololade-bamidele-premium-times ↵

[11] Ibid. ↵

[12] Author Unknown, “Nigeria Loses Another Literary Icon, Professor Harry Garuba”, Channels Television, (Uploaded: 1 March 2020), (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://www.channelstv.com/2020/03/01/nigeria-loses-another-literary-icon-professor-harry-garuba/ ↵

[13] Unknown Author, “Obituary – Prof. Harry Garuba (1958 – 2020)”, The Lagos Review, (Uploaded: 29 February 2020), (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://thelagosreview.ng/obituary-prof-harry-garuba-1958-2020/ ↵

[14] Idowu Omoyele, “For 30 Years, I kept Running”, Mail and Guardian, (Uploaded 5 January 2018) (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://mg.co.za/article/2018-01-05-00-for-30-years-i-kept-running/ ↵

[15] Ibid. ↵

[16] Ibid. ↵

[17] Ibid. ↵

[18] Author Unknown, “Nigeria Loses Another Literary Icon, Professor Harry Garuba”, Channels Television, (Uploaded: 1 March 2020), (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://www.channelstv.com/2020/03/01/nigeria-loses-another-literary-icon-professor-harry-garuba/ ↵

[19] Author Unknown, “Nigeria Loses Another Literary Icon, Professor Harry Garuba”, Channels Television, (Uploaded: 1 March 2020), (Accessed: 1 March 2020), Available at: https://www.channelstv.com/2020/03/01/nigeria-loses-another-literary-icon-professor-harry-garuba/ ↵