The Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, will today at the Draper’s Hall host a colloquium and Festschrift in honour of a grade critic of African Literature and erudite Harvard Professor, Francis Abiola Irele, who turns 75 May 22, 2011.

But the event to commemorate the icon is coming up three days earlier with an admixture of scholarly jawjaw at the colloquium as well as a short performance this evening The event is expected to feature participating scholars from home and abroad, including many of Irele’s peers, serving and retired Vice Chancellors as well as the broad literary community.

Working with the broad theme of Theory and the African Imagination, colloquium highlights include presentations on a wide range of scholarly issues straddling meta-criticism of Abiola Irele and Africa’s critical practice and other theoretical insights. Participating scholars will be addressing, among other issues:

The African Experience in Literature and Ideology;(Post-) Negritude, African Personality, Critical and Cultural Practices; The African Imagination and Emergent Textualities and

Praxis of Cultural Production and Literary Publications

The organisers are hoping to follow up on the day’s events with a festschrift. To this end they are enjoining scholars, colleagues and former students of Irele to also contribute essays to the proposed publication, part of which will be generated from the colloquium, and submit same to the festival coordinator and editor of the publication, Dr. Sola Olorunyomi of the Institute of African Studies.