RAJI Ajewumi Bili

Email address(es): wumiraji@oauife.edu.ng, wumiraji@hotmail.com

Office Address: Department of Dramatic Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State.

Academic Qualifications: B.A., (Ilorin), M.A., Ph.D (Ibadan)

Areas of Specialization: African and Postcolonial Theatre and Literature

Title of M.A. Thesis: Exile Imagination in the Novels of George Lamming

Title of Ph.D. Thesis: Transformative Imagination: Postcolonial Discourse and Black Revolutionary Drama

Scholarships: Staff Development Award, University of Ilorin: 1992-1994 Alexander Von Humboldt Language Scholarship, 2000

Fellowships:

Alexander Von Humboldt Fellowship, Bonn, Germany 2000

Guest Researchers’Fellowship, Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, 2003

Volkswagen Foundation Fellowship, Hanover Germany, 2003-2004

Visiting Research Fellowship, University of Vaxjo, Sweden, 2005

African Studies Visiting Research Fellowship, University of Cambridge, UK, 2006-2007

Guest Professorship, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, 2008

Visiting Researcher Fellowship, Linnaeus University, Sweden, 2013, 2022

Research Grants:

Senate Research Grant, University of Ilorin, 1995-1996

Alexander Von Humboldt Equipment Grant, 2013

Alexander Von Humboldt Grant to Organise Humboldt Kolleg, 2022

Ongoing Current Research: Masculinities in Nigerian Cultural Forms Gender in Transdisciplinary Humanities

Publications:

2009. Long Dreams in Short Chapters: Essays in Postcolonial African Literary, Cultural and Political Criticisms. Berlin: Lit Verlag.

2013 Another Life: Play (Ibadan: Kraft Books)

2002 Rolling Dreams: Poems. : Kraft Books.

2022 Apalara: Youth Empowerment Scheme in the State of Osun. Berlin: Galda

2023 with Sylvester Odion Akhaine & Akin Adesokan. Odia Ofeimun: In Search of a Common Morality: Essays, Tributes and Conversations. Ile Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press

1991 with David Cook & Olu Obafemi Rising Voices: an Anthology of New Nigerian Poetry. : Kraft Books. 129pp.

2014. Contemporary Literature of Africa: Tijan M. Sallah and Literary Works of The Gambia. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press.

2016 (with Idaevbor Bello) An Idea We must not Forget: A Celebration of Festus Iyayi. Ibadan: Kraft Books

2018 (with Femi Osofisan). Ogun’s Errant Warrior: Celebrating Biodun Jeyifo at 70. Ibadan: Kraft Books

1998 with Omotoye Olorode, Jiti Ogunye and Tunde Oladunjoye (eds.) Ken Saro – Wiwa and the Crisis of the Nigerian State. Lagos: CDHR Creative Works: Short Stories

“Mission to Labaran.” (Short Story) African – Writing Online. http://www.african-writing.com/hol/wumiraji.htm Dec./Jan 2008

“Once Upon a Miracle.” (Short story) Sentinel Literary Quarterly Vol. 2, No 1 http://www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/slq2.1/wumi_raji.htm Nov. 2008

2013 “Born to Run” (Short Story) Matatu: Journal of African Culture and Society, No 42, pp.355-364

2014 “Palaver on a Trip to Goteborg” (Short Story) African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, Vol 7, No1, pp. 52-69

Published Articles Journals

1995 “A Circumference of Two Worlds: Politics and Alienation in George Lamming’s In the Castle of my Skin” Centrepoint 5:2, 161-177.

2004 “Tribute to David Cook.” Research in African Literatures. 35.1 pp 3-6

1997 with Adebayo Lawal, and Bade Ajayi “A Pragmatic Study of Selected Pairs of Yoruba Proverbs” Journal of Pragmatics, 27 pp.635-651

1999 “Theatre, Society and the Challenges of Amateur Productions in Nigeria”. Alore: Ilorin Journal of Humanities. 4:1 pp.67-83

2000.”Dream Seeker and the Divining Chain: A Tribute to Femi Osofisan. Ilorin Journal of Language and Literature (IJLL) No 4 pp.17- 28.

1998. “A Feast of Reunion: Citation for Niyi Osundare at Fifty.” ALA Bulletin 24, pp.65-67.

“Africanizing Antigone: Postcolonial Discourse and Strategies of Re-visioning a Western Classic.” Research in African Literatures 36.4 Winter 2005, pp.135-154

“Blurred Boundaries: a Review Critique of Femi Abodunrin’s It Would Take Time”. Journal of Humanities (JH), of . June 2002, pp 65 – 69

“Urban Dislocation and Postcolonial Transformation in the Plays of Femi Osofisan. Journal of Humanities.(JH) University of Malawi; No 21, 2007/08. pp 1-12.

2007 “Interview with Derek Peterson, Director Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge”. African Writing Online. http://www.african-writing.com/peterson.htm Oct/Nov. 2007

“Imagined Transformation: Notes on a Postcolonialism of African Literature.” Matatu: Journal of African Studies. Special edition on “Western Genre in African Literature?” (2011) pp. 3-26

2005 “Identity and Narrativity in a Postcolonial Context: Okey Ndibe’s Arrows of Rain and Ike Oguine’s A Squatter’s Tale. English in Africa 32.1 pp. 143-148

2010 “A Melting Pot: Representations of Lagos Imaginary in Odia Ofeimun’s (ed.) Lagos of the Poet.” LAJOLLACS: Lapai Journal of Languages, Literature and Communication Studies. Vol. 2, No 2: 14 27

“Not a Girl to Meet Everyday: Ama Ata Aidoo’s Anowa and a Re-presentation of Feminine Difference.” Matatu: Journal of African Studies. Special edition on “Western Genre in African Literature.” (2011) pp. 503-530

2013 “The Amphibian’s Dilemma” An Interview with Tijan M. Sallah” Matatu: Journal for African Culture and Society Vol. 41, pp. 465-482

2016 “In Place/Out of Place: Crossings and Cross- Cultural Connections in Sarah Ladipo Manyika’s In Dependence”. Matatu: Journal of African Culture and Society. Vol.47: 35-53

2017 “Men at the Edge: Margins and Masculinities in Nigerian Migrant Fictions.” Anglica Wratislaviensia LV. Vol. 55: 99 – 109

Chapters in Books

2004 “Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Four Farcical Plays and the Postcolonial Imagination”. Towards a Transcultural Future: Literature and Human Rights in a Post – Colonial’ World”. Ed. Peter H. Marsden & Geoffrey V. Davies. Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi, pp.81-91

1998 “Oil Resources, Hegemonic Politics and the Struggle for Re-inventing Postcolonial Nigeria” Ogoni’s Agonies: Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Crisis in Nigeria ed. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, (: Africa World Press), pp.98-101.

1998 “The Present Position on the Present Condition of the Present Situation’ : A Study of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Fictive Writings”. Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Crisis of the Nigerian State. eds. Omotoye Olorode, Wumi Raji, Jiti Ogunye and Tunde Oladunjoye. Lagos: CDHR, pp.193- 207.

1999 “Modern Literary Theories and Criticism”. The English Language and Literature in English: An Introductory Handbook. Ed. Efurosibina Adegbija. : Department of Modern European Languages, pp.218-234

2002. “Style and Postcolonial Representation in the Plays of Niyi Osundare”. The People’s Poet: Emerging Perspectives on Niyi Osundare. Ed. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, pp.527-535

2002 “Walking Inside Africa: Bayreuth African Studies Series”. Palavers of African Literature: Essays in Honour of Bernth Lindfors, Vol. I Ed. Toyin Falola & Barbara Harlow. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, pp.257-285.

2001. “History and Postcolonial Identity in George Lamming’s Season of Adventure.” Understanding Post-colonial Identities:Ireland, Africa and the Pacific. Ed. Dele Layiwola Ibadan: Sefer, pp. 159 – 168.

1994 “Elements of English Phonetics and Phonology” in Olu Obafemi (ed.) Introduction to English Language. Ibadan: Associated Books. Pp.42-57

2005. “Looking Back/Looking Forward: Identity and Memory in African Fictions of Exile.” In Arndt, Susan and Marek Spitzock von Brisinski (eds.) Africa, Colonialism and (Post)Colonialism, Racism, Migration and Diaspora. Bayreuth: Bayreuth African Studies Series. Pp. 279-293

2006 “Opera Wonyosi: Strategies of a Postcolonial Response to a Western Operatic Drama.” Boeker, Uwe, Ines Detmers & Anna-Christina Giovanopoulos (eds.) John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera: Adaptations and Re-Writings. /: Rodopi. pp. 243-271

2009 “Transitions Eternal: Marxism, Feminism and Femi Osofisan’s Engagement of a Heroic Narrative in Morountodun in Olaussen Maria & Christianah Angelfors (ed.) Africa Writing Europe: Opposition, Juxtaposition, Entanglement. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi pp. 95-124

2010 “Tijan Sallah” in Ojaide Tanure (ed.) Dictionary of Literary Biography: African Literature Volume.

2012 “Tornadoes full of Dreams: African Literature of the Trans-Atlantic Imagination.” In Cuder, Pilar and Benedicte Ledent New Perspectives on the Black Atlantic Bern: Peter Lang pp. 173-194

2014 “New Nigerian Playwrights: an Update” in Ogunbiyi, Yemi, (ed.) Nigerian Drama and Theatre: a Critical Source Book. Lagos: Tanus Books Limited pp 623-659.

2014 “Kora Notes: Tijan M. Sallah and Gambian Literature” in Raji, Wumi (ed.) Contemporary Literature of Africa: Tijan M. Sallah And Literary Works of The Gambia. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press pp. 1-16

2016 “Festus Iyayi: What Happened the Day Death Came Calling” in Raji, Wumi & Idaevbor Bello (ed.) An Idea We must not Forget: A Celebration of Festus Iyayi. Ibadan: Kraft Books. pp. 1-24

2016 (with Idaevbor Bello) “Intimate Moments: An Interview with Grace Iyayi.” in Raji, Wumi & Idaevbor Bello (ed.) An Idea We must not Forget: A Celebration of Festus Iyayi. Ibadan: Kraft Books. pp. 135-161

2016 “Between Antigone and Tegonni: Tragic Visions and Translations”. in Adewole L.A & Adesoji A (ed.) Seminar Series: Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife: 2014-2015: pp 114-133

2004 “Transformed Identities: Cultural Transgression and Postcolonial Transformation in Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ngugi wa Mirii’s I Will Marry When I Want,” in Extending the Code: New Forms of Dramatic and Theatrical Expressions Twelfth Annual Publication of the German Society for Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English edited by Hans-Ulrich Mohr and Kerstin Machler (Trier: Wissenschaflicher Verlag), pp.25-39

2018 “Biodun Jeyifo’s Revaluations” in Osofisan, Femi & Wumi Raji Ogun’s Errant Warrior: Celebrating Biodun Jeyifo at 70. Ibadan: Kraft Books, pp. 209-230Reviews

2002 “Review of Oral Traditions and Aesthetic Transfer:Creativity and Social Vision in Contemporary Black Poetry by Charles Bodunde and African Language Literature in the Political Context of the 1990s, edited by Charles Bodunde.” Research in African Literatures, Vol. 33, Number 3, Fall, pp. 231-233.

2002 “Review of Threshold: Anglophone African Literatures, edited by Christiane Fioupou.” Research in African Literatures. Volume 33 No 4 Winter, pp.204 – 206

2004 “Three Collections of Short Stories”. African Literature Today (ALT) Vol. 24, pp.192 – 194

1994 “Anguish Catharsis and the Nigerian Civil war”. African Notes XVII pp.98-101

1996 “A Poet for the City: Tunde Olusunle’s Finger marks” Okike: An African Journal Of New Writing 34, pp.118-120

1996. “Losses and Silences. A Review of Taiwo Oloruntoba- Oju’s Losses.” COMCAP 1, pp.149-152

2007 “Celebrating Abiola Irele.” Philosophia Africana: Analysis of Philosophy and Issues in Africa and the Black Diaspora 10.1 2007 pp.73-75

2008 “A Review of Femi Abodunrin’s Black African Literature in English: 1991-2001: Critical Appreciation and Reception.” Research in African Literatures, 39.2 Summer 2008 pp. 151-152

2008 “A Review of Lars Eckstein’s Re-Membering the Black Atlantic: On the Politics and Poetics of Literary Memory.” ZAA Redaktion: A Quarterly of Language, Literature and Culture, 1.1 pp.100-102.

1996. “Towards a Tradition of Nigerian Art Music: A Review of Bode Omojola’s Nigerian Art Music” IFRA Newsletters. III pp.19-20
1997. “In Pursuit of African Publishing” Glendora Books Supplement II:1 pp.3-5

Staff Profile:

Wumi Raji is an actor, theatre director and producer. Among others, he directed Kola Ogunmola’s The Palmwine Drinkards, Obafemi Awolowo University convocation play in 2018; and Femi Osofisan’s Adventures in the Forest of a Thousand also for the same University convocation in 2022. In addition to the above, he is also a writer of note. His published creative works are Rolling Dreams (Ibadan: Kraftbooks, 2002) and Another Life (Ibadan: Kraftbooks, 2013). He won a Book Prize in the 1988 BBC Arts and Africa Poetry Competition and his play, already cited above, was longlisted for the Wole Soyinka Writers’ prize in 2014.Wumi Raji is widely travelled, and has taught in a variety of institutions in Nigeria, Africa and Europe. These include the Universities of Ilorin and Benin, University of The Gambia, University of Bayreuth, Germany, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Technische University, Dresden, and Vaxjo University, Sweden. In 2022, Wumi Raji received a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn Germany to organise a Humboldt Kolleg on the theme “Gender in Transdisciplinary Humanities@.