 Hello dear learners, welcome to today's program. I am Dr. Pallavi Gugai of Krishnakanta Handik State Open University. Today I shall take up Unit 8, titled Chinua Archipi, a mother in a refugee camp. This is the prescribed poem for you. However, in this video we shall first start with a discussion on the life and works of the poet. The course is Journal English, Semester 1, Block 1. So, let us quickly begin. First I shall start with a table of contents where I shall be discussing the learning objectives, introduction, the life of Chinua Archipi, the literary works of Chinua Archipi, questions to check your progress and the references. Starting with the learning objectives, after going through this video, the learner will be able to gain an insight into a life of the poet Chinua Archipi and discuss the literary works of the poet. To provide you with a brief introduction, Chinua Archipi is also considered as the father of modern African literature for his outstanding literary works. Archipi was a prolific poet and a writer who received much acclaim for both his literary and intellectual contributions. Albert Chinua Moologo Archipi. Yes, that's the complete name of Chinua Archipi. He was a writer, poet and critic of Nigerian origin. He was born in a religious Christian family to Isaiah Archipi and Janet A. Illyukh Yunam and had three brothers and two sisters. His village home was situated in the Nigerian forest of Ogidi, which is home to one of the major African tribes known as Ibu, also known as a hardworking people with a rich cultural heritage. The life of Chinua Archipi. As a child, Archipi attended St. Phillips' Central School and Central School in Nikiti. He was an intelligent student and had qualified for both the Dennis Memorial Cramer School and Government College at the same time, deciding to attend the latter. His Christian upbringing, his early love for books and inclination towards exploring traditional religious cultures had left a lifelong impression on his mind. It was out of sheer compulsion that Archipi had learned to speak English at Government College where native African languages were not allowed. He pursued his high studies at the University of Ibadan, earning a financial scholarship of merit to study medicine in 1948. But later he opted to study English literature, history and theology instead. Although he had eventually completed his graduation with a second-class degree from the university, yet it was here that Archipi's talent for writing had begun to flower with the first publication of his writings. Following his graduation, he decided to take up teaching at the Merchants of Light School for a brief period and then joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Service that is the NBS at Lagos in the year 1954. He began to write and publish a series of literary works thereby experimenting with African fiction. Now coming to the works of Chinua Archipi, some of his best known novels were Things Fall Apart, No Longer Attees, Arrow of God, A Man of the People and Angels of Savannah, which is an interesting work. In fact all these works are very interesting. His best political anthologies include Beware, Soul Brother and Other Poems, Don't Let Him Die, An Anthology of Memory Poems for Christopher or Kikbo, Another Africa and Collected Poems. Archipi also wrote children's literature and short stories compiled as Marriage is a Private Affair, 1952, Dead Men's Path, 1953 and Contemporary African Short Stories, 1992 to mention a few. Archipi was also the general editor of the African Writers' Series and wrote critical essays such as An Image of Africa, Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, later included in Hopes and Impediments along with other non-fiction works such as There Was a Country, a Personal History of Bifuria, published in 2012. Archipi took up two new publications, worked at the University of Massachusetts and Hurst later joined the University of Nigeria. So he also had a teaching career. He had also served at the Bard College, New York and David and Mariana Fisher University. Archipi was also the first to be honored with the Nigerian National Meritor Award in the year 1979 for his academic works and he continued to write and publish his other literary works all through the course of his eventful life. Apart from earning more than 50 honorary degrees, serial fellowships, he was also awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Man Booker International Prize in the year 2007, among others. His health had gradually declined and owing to illness, Archipi breathed his last on March 2013 in Boston and buried in Ogedi, Nigeria. Coming to questions to check your progress, question number one write a few lines on the poet Chinua Chibi. Question number two, mention some of the major novels by Chinua Chibi. Question number three, name some of the political anthologies by Chinua Chibi. Question number four, name the prestigious awards and recognitions that Chinua Chibi had received in his lifetime. I hope you'd also go through the BE English graduate self-learning material that is the SLM of general English block one unit 8 semester 1. Thank you dear learners.