OMOTOSO, KOLE

born April 21, 1943, Akure, Western State, Nigeria Nigerian novelist, playwright, and critic who wrote from a Yoruba background and coupled the folklore he learned as a child with his adult studies in Arabic and English. His major themes include interracial marriage, comic aspects of the BiafranNigerian conflict, and the human conditionas exemplified in friendship between the Yoruba and the Ibo and in relationships between children and parents. After attending local schools, Omotoso completed his secondary education at King's College, Lagos, Nigeria (196263); and attended the University of Ibadan. After another stint at teaching he went to Scotland in 1969 for his doctorate, after which he returned to Nigeria to teach Arabic at the University of Ife. His works include novels such as The Edifice (1971), The Combat (1972), Sacrifice (1974), Fella's Choice (1974), and The Scales (1976); a collection of shorter tales, Miracles and Other Stories (1973); the plays The Curse (1976) and Shadows in the Horizons (1977); and many critical articles and reviews.