John Munonye (April 1929 10 May 1999)[1] is an Igbo writer and one of the

most renowned Nigerian writers of the 20th century.

Contents [hide]
1

Biography

Criticism and style

Works

References

Biography[edit]
John Munonye was born in Akokwa, Nigeria, and was educated at Christ the King
College, Onitsha (194348), the University of Ibadan (graduating in 1952)[1] and
the Institute of Education, London. His first novel, The Only Son, was published in
Heinemann's African Writers Series in 1966, followed in 1969 by its sequel, Obi,
and then Oil Man of Obange (1971). Munonye spent three years as the head of
the Advanced Teacher Training College, Owerri, retiring in 1972 (he would also
give his last public lecture there, entitled "The Last To Go").[2] He worked for the
Nigerian Ministry of Education until 1977, leaving to teach and devote more time
to writing.[1] His other novels were A Wreath for the Maidens (1973), A Dancer of
Fortune (1974), and Bridge to a Wedding (1978), after which he published little.
[1]

Criticism and style[edit]

Munonye, unlike some of his contemporaries, professed a love for optimism in
the face of colonial onslaught on traditional values. To him, the dialectical
environment of African and western tradition can be seen in both a positive light
and outcome for the common Igbo or Nigerian man or woman. An overriding
theme in his novels is the focus on the common man. Munonye sometimes view
the common man as being born into a position whereby he is already at a
disadvantage, both historically and presently, He sees little difference to the fate
of the common man who could be manipulated at the whims of elites and chiefs
in both pre- and post-colonial Nigeria and during colonialism.