Nduka Otiono, Nigerian writer, poet and scholar, has been appointed Director of Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies.
Pauline Rankin, The Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Carleton University confirmed this in a statement, yesterday. The appointment which is for a three-year term will take effect from July 1.
She described Otiono as “an Associate Professor in the Institute of African Studies whose work spans creative writing, cultural studies, oral performance and literature in Africa, and postcolonial studies”.
“His recent publications include the co-edited volume of essays, Polyvocal Bob Dylan: Music, Performance, Literature (Palgrave Macmillan 2019) and DisPlace: The Poetry of Nduka Otiono (Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2021),” she said.
Responding to the appointment, Otiono said: “I humbly embrace this appointment and call to service as the new Director of our beloved Institute of African Studies at Carleton University, Canada’s foremost Institute of African Studies.
“When I joined this unit as the first full-time faculty member on tenure track in 2014, I had no idea that within 7 years, I would be entrusted with its leadership as the first Director not appointed from outside of the institute.
“Recognizing that this is our home department and the intellectual and cultural hub for the study of Africa in Canada is essential to my vision for the Institute. I count on our great local and international community and partners for the necessary cooperation and support to advance the Institute in its second decade of existence–having been founded in 2009.
“I thank the hiring committee and the University administration for choosing me to lead our great Institute at this critical juncture in its history. I thank my colleagues and our passionate students whose confidence in my work continue to inspire me to excel.
“I would also like to acknowledge the endless love from my family without which this Canadian journey would have been a lonesome walk on the snow. Finally, as we say as people of faith and in Naija lingo, To God be the glory.”
Otiono was a journalist with TheGuardian.
