Nigeria’s renowned poet and playwright John Pepper Clark, popularly known as JP Clark, is dead. The respected writer passed away at the age of 85 on Tuesday.
Although the cause of his death is still unknown, his family members, Ilaye and C.C Clark who broke the news in a statement stated that “other details will be announced later by the family.”
“The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce that Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Prof. John Pepper Clark, has finally dropped his pen,” the statement reads in part.
“Prof. J. P. Clark has paddled on to the great beyond in comfort of his wife, children, and siblings, around him. The family appreciates your prayers at this time. Other details will be announced later by the family.”
JP Clark started his early education at the Native Administration School and the Government College in Ugheli and graduated in 1960 from the department of English at the University of Ibadan. He was a former information officer in the Ministry of Information for the old Western Region of Nigeria. Clark also worked ad a research fellow at the Institute of African Studies in Ibadan.
He was popular for some of his dramatic works like Song of a Goat (1961), The Raft (1964), Ozidi (1966), and The Boat (1981).
In 1991, he was honoured with the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award for literary excellence.
