Daniel O. Fagunwa

Who was Daniel O. Fagunwa?

Daniel Olorunfẹmi Fagunwa MBE, popularly known as D. O. Fagunwa, was a Nigerian author who pioneered the Yoruba-language novel. He was born in Oke-Igbo, Ondo State. An Oloye of the Yoruba people, Fagunwa studied at St. Luke's School, Oke-Igbo, and St. Andrew's College, Oyo, before becoming a teacher himself.

In 1938, entering a literary contest of the Nigerian education ministry, Fagunwa wrote his Ògbójú Ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmalẹ̀, widely considered the first novel written in the Yoruba language and one of the first to be written in any African language. Wole Soyinka translated the book into English in 1968 as The Forest of A Thousand Daemons, first published by Random House and again by City Lights in September 2013. Fagunwa's later works include Igbo Olodumare, Ireke Onibudo, Irinkerindo ninu Igbo Elegbeje, and Adiitu Olodumare.

Fagunwa's novels draw heavily on folktale traditions and idioms, including many supernatural elements. His heroes are usually Yoruba hunters, who interact with kings, sages, and even gods in their quests. Thematically, his novels also explore the divide between the Christian beliefs of Africa's colonizers and the continent's traditional religions.