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Syl Cheney-Coker

シル・チェニー＝コーカー

Shiru Chenī-Kōkā

Aliases: Syl Cheney Coker

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1945-06-28 （Freetown, Sierra Leone）
Nationality
Sierra Leone
Languages
English, Krio
Residence History
Freetown, Sierra Leone → United States (study and residence) → Philippines (employment) → Nigeria (employment) → Las Vegas (City of Asylum residency)

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, journalist, academic/teacher
Active Years
1969-
Affiliations
University of the Philippines (faculty), University of Maiduguri (faculty), University of Iowa (Writer-in-Residence), Vanguard newspaper (editor)
Influenced By
Gabriel García Márquez, French literature, Latin American literature

Education

University of California, Los Angeles
Country: United States
Attended as part of studies in the United States
University of Oregon
Country: United States
Attended (details unknown)
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Country: United States
Attended (details unknown)

Awards

Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa Region)
1991
Work: The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar
Category: Africa Region
Organization: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Road to Jamaica

1969 poetry

Early poetry collection containing themes and perspectives that characterize his early work.

movementbelonging

Concerto for an Exile: Poems

1973 poetry

A collection of poems dealing with exile and loss of homeland.

exileloss

The Graveyard Also Has Teeth

1980 poetry

Contains poems that explore intellectual isolation and the precarious position of intellectuals at home.

intellectual isolationrelationship with readers

The Blood in the Desert's Eyes

1990 poetry

Poetry collection published in 1990 including politically and historically themed poems.

politicshistory

The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar

1990 novel (contains elements of magical realism)

A large-scale novel describing the history of the fictional country Malagueta. Against the backdrop of the Atlantic slave trade, exile, and national memory, it follows the life of the title character Alusine Dunbar.

historyexilelegacy of slaverynation formationmagical realism

Bibliography

  • The Road to Jamaica
  • Concerto for an Exile: Poems
  • The Graveyard Also Has Teeth
  • The Blood in the Desert's Eyes
  • The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar

Adaptations

  • Documentary 'The Poets'

Style & Themes

Literary Style
erudite and allusive styletechniques influenced by French and Latin American literaturesardent and radical voice
Recurring Motifs
exilememory and historyrelationship between state and individualsea and Atlantic history

Legacy

As a major Sierra Leonean poet and novelist, he is recognized for writing about exile and for introducing influences from Latin American and French literatures into African writing. He gained international recognition, including winning the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa Region) in 1991.

In Popular Culture

  • Featured subject of the 2016 documentary 'The Poets'

Quotes

  • at the university the professors talk about the poetry of Syl Cheney-Coker condemning students to read me in the English honours class my country I do not want that! do not want to be cloistered in books alone
    Source: 'On Being a Poet in Sierra Leone' from The Graveyard Also Has Teeth (1980)

Trivia

  • Changed the spelling of his name from Syl Cheney Coker to Syl Cheney-Coker in 1970.
  • Won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Africa Region) in 1991 for The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar (published 1990).
  • After the 1997 coup in Sierra Leone he was targeted as a dissident and was invited to the City of Asylum program in Las Vegas.
  • Subject, along with Niyi Osundare, of the 2016 documentary 'The Poets'.