Sun has set on a star of Nigerian literature – Professor J P Clark – who bid the world good bye on Tuesday.
He was one of the trio that many believed represented the best of the nation’s contemporary literature, with the others being the late Professor Achebe and Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
A statement signed by Prof. C. C. Clark for the family and Ilaye Clark, for the children, announced the passage.
He was 85.
The statement said: “The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce that Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Prof. John Pepper Clark, has finally dropped his pen in the early hours of today, Tuesday, 13 October, 2020.
“Prof. J. P. Clark has paddled on to the great beyond in comfort of his wife, children and sibling, around him.
“The family appreciates your prayers at this time. Other details will be announced later by the family.”
J. P. Clark was a younger brother to elder statesman and Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark.
As the foremost scholar and writer departs, the world will remember his numerous works that cut across poetry, drama and essays.
Among such are popular poems like ‘Abiku’, ‘The Casualties’ and ‘Night Rain’.
Among other works, his collection, ‘Poems’ (Mbari, 1961), is a group of 40 lyrics that treat heterogeneous themes; while ‘A Reed in the Tide’ (Longmans, 1965), are ‘occasional poems that focus on the Clark’s indigenous African background and his travel experience in America and other places’.
