Kola Tubosun

Kola Tubosun
Born Kọ́láwọlé Olúgbémiró Ọlátúbọ̀sún
(1981-09-22)22 September 1981
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Nationality Nigerian
Other names Kola Olatubosun
Alma mater University of Ibadan, Moi University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Occupation Linguist, Writer, Teacher
Parent(s) Olatubosun Oladapo
Website www.ktravula.com

Kọ́láwọlé Olúgbémiró Ọlátúbọ̀sún (born 22 September 1981) is a Nigerian linguist, teacher, editor and writer. He is best known for online advocacy for the preservation and proliferation of African languages (particularly Yoruba, his native tongue) on the internet [1][2][3] and specifically the 2012 "Tweet Yoruba Project" that led to Twitter agreeing to include Yoruba in the list of language to which the platform is being translated, among others.[4][5][6] He writes in Yoruba and English.

He was awarded the 2016 Premio Ostana International Prize for Mother Tongue Literature (Il Premio Ostana Internazionale Scritture in Lingua Madre 2016), the first African to be so honoured, for his work in indigenous language writing advocacy.[7][8]

Early life and education

Born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, into a family of six children, he grew up under the influence of the Yoruba language and culture with access to works of Yoruba and English language writers.

Tubosun's university education was at both the University of Ibadan, for a BA in linguistics in 2005, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for an MA in 2012. He participated in a MacArthur Foundation-sponsored Socio-Cultural Exchange Programme to Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya, in April 2005. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in August 2009, through which he taught Yoruba at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

His undergraduate thesis, called "A Multimedia Dictionary of Yoruba Names", would later become the basis for his "Yoruba Name Documentation Project" ten years later.

Writing and Editing

While teaching at Whitesands School, Lagos, Tubosun coordinated the publication of a collection of students' creative work called "The Sail", which he also edited.[9] The prizewinning entries of the students were selected by novelist Chika Unigwe and poet Tade Ipadeola.[10][11][12]

From 2012 to 2015, Tubosun edited the NTLitMag, an online-based literary magazine about new writing from Nigerian and Africa. Some of the original works published through the medium include that of A. Igoni Barrett, Dami Ajayi, Teju Cole, Jumoke Verissimo, Bassey Ikpi, Tade Ipadeola, Emmanuel Iduma, Peter Akinlabi, Ikhide Ikheloa, Unoma Azuah, Nnedi Okorafor, among many other new and established writers.

In February 2014, Tubosun was part of the Cassava Republic Press Ankara Press Valentine Anthology which had short stories about love by African writers translated into local languages.[13]

In September 2015, he released a poetry chapbook entitled "Attempted Speech & Other Fatherhood Poems.[14] It contains poems written about the experience of raising a child.

He is also involved in the documentation of the Nigerian literary experience through his personal travel blog for which he has been nominated for local and international awards, including the CNN/Multichoice African Journalists Award 2015.[15]

In November 2015, he was appointed the editor of Aké Review, the literary publication of the Aké Arts and Book Festival. The publication featured interviews with poet Niyi Osundare, and Namwali Serpell, winner of the 2015 Caine Prize, among others.

The Tweet Yoruba project

In 2012, Tubosun started an online campaign, to demand that Twitter include Yoruba in the list of languages to which Twitter was being translated. The effort came to a head on 1 March 2012 which was declared "the Tweet Yoruba Day" to call attention to the matter.[16] The campaign took the whole day, involving other speakers of Yoruba online tweeting only in the language and directing their comments to the twitter translation platform. The effort yielded first an acknowledgement of the protest and then a promise to act in support of the idea. The Tweet Yoruba Day campaign continued on March 1, 2013 and again on 1 March 2014. In August 2014, Twitter announced through a tweet that they were now adding Yoruba (along with Esperanto) to the translation platform, ending the two years of advocacy.[17][18]

YorubaName.com

Tubosun founded the "Yoruba Name Documentation Project" at YorubaName.com in March 2015 after months of crowdfunding.[19][20] The project aims to document all names in Yoruba in an accessible multimedia format. It also aims at bringing together a community of interested linguists and other culture enthusiasts to document the African cultural and linguistic experience on the web, and to facilitate the use of the Internet as a means of better representing this experience. On 8 August 2015, the project released a free Yorùbá Keyboard software for Mac and Windows to allow its users type in Yorùbá on the internet.[21]

Awards

Tubosun has been twice named as one of the 100 innovative people in the Nigerian technology space.[22][23]

In January 2016, he was named as the first African to win the Premio Ostana International Prize for Mother Tongue Literature (Il Premio Ostana Internazionale Scritture in Lingua Madre 2016), a prize given to any individual who have done writing and notable advocacy for the defence of an indigenous language.[7][24][25][26][27] The Prize is organized by the Culture of the Chambra D’Oc in the town of Ostana (Cuneo, Italy). The eighth edition of the Prize Ceremony will be held from 2 to 5 June 2016 in Italy, in collaboration with the Municipality of Ostana. Past winners of this International Prize include Jaques Thiers (2015), Lance David Henson (2014), Mehmet Altun (2013), Harkaitz Cano (2011), and Witi Tame Ihimaera (2010).

Selected works

Poetry Chapbooks
Edited
Essays
Research

Studies of Initial Tonal Acquisition by American English Speakers Learning Yoruba (2012) Masters Thesis on Academia.edu[33]

Translations
Other Works in Print

References

  1. ↑ Olofinlua, Temitayo (25 May 2015). "Nigerian Scholar Creates an Online Home for Yoruba Names". Global Press Journal. Global Press. With the help of volunteers and crowdsourcing contributors, he is creating an online compendium of Yoruba names with meanings and aural pronunciations.
  2. ↑ "A Stroll with Kola Tubosun, Teacher, Writer, Linguist and Founder, YorubaName.com"
  3. ↑ "Writing a New Nigeria: Ideas of Identity", BBC Radio 4,
  4. ↑ "Twitter Can Now be Translated into Yoruba". Encomium. 4 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Bankole, Oluwafemi (14 November 2014). "It Took Only Two Years, But Twitter Is Finally Getting Translated Into Yoruba". TechCabal. As we speak, Kola and others are working to translate the Twitter’s standard glossary of terms.
  6. ↑ Elusoji, Solomon (21 April 2015). "Cultural Export". This Day Live/AllAfrica. An online Yoruba dictionary has been launched to help the Yoruba race in Nigeria go beyond borders.
  7. 1 2 Florence Utor (31 January 2016). "Tobosun Receives International Award For Mother Tongue Literature 2016". The Guardian. Nigeria.
  8. ↑ "Nigerian author wins Premio Ostana award for scriptures". The Nation. 25 January 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Review of The Sail | An Anthology of Writings by Students in a Lagos Secondary School", Brittle Paper, 24 August 2015.
  10. 1 2 "First Breath From Whitesands: A review by Tade Ipadeola", Sabi News, 3 July 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Whitesands Boys Write Book", The Nation, 2 July 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Whitesands School Grooms Creative Students", National Mirror, 2 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "African Love Stories Ankara Press", Brittle Paper, February 2016.
  14. ↑ Achieng, Emily (30 September 2015). "A Father’s Apprehensions and Fascinations—Interview with Kola Tubosun". Saraba Magazine. Saraba.
  15. ↑ Olisakwe, Ukamaka (14 September 2015). "NEWS: Kola Tubosun and four other Nigerians among finalists in the 2015 CNN Multichoice African Journalist". Olisa.tv. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  16. ↑ Egbunike, Nwachukwu (2013). "Nigerians Shake Up Twitter with Yoruba-Language Tweets". Global Voices.
  17. ↑ Oluwafemi, Bankole (2014). "It Took Only Two Years, But Twitter Is Finally Getting Translated Into Yoruba". TechCabal.
  18. ↑ Contributor, Techloy (2012). "Twitter Promises Support For Yoruba In Coming Months". TechLoy.
  19. ↑ "Online Dictionary Helps Nigerians Decode Their Names", Voice of America.
  20. ↑ "YorubaName.com Hits Crowdfunding Benchmark", TechCabal.
  21. ↑ / Yorùbá Keyboard Layouts for Mac and Windows]
  22. ↑ Stephen, Jewel (2015). "The class of 2015: Nigeria’s 100 most innovative persons in Technology". YNaija.com. YNaija. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Oyetimein, Oluwapelumi (2016). "YNaija presents the class of 2016: Nigeria’s 100 most innovative persons in Technology". YNaija. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  24. ↑ "KỌ́LÁ TÚBỌ̀SÚN becomes first African to win Premio Ostana international language award". Sabi News. Sabinews. 26 January 2016.
  25. ↑ Nation, The (25 January 2016). "Nigerian author wins Premio Ostana award for scriptures".
  26. ↑ NG, Mirror (26 January 2016). "Nigerian Man becomes first African to win the Premio Ostana International Award for Mother Tongue Literature".
  27. ↑ Tony Okuyeme (29 January 2016). "Tubosun wins Premio Ostana International Award". New Telegraph.
  28. ↑ "Attempted Speech and Other Fatherhood Poems". Saraba Magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  29. ↑ "Edo North : field studies of the languages and lands of the northern Edo : essays in honour of Professor Ben O. Elugbe". SOAS.
  30. ↑ "Farafina 12". Farafina Magazine Issue 12. Retrieved December 2007.
  31. ↑ "Guest post for International Mother Language Day". Write Paragraphs. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "My Indigenous Language Interest Is Abiding". We The Humanities. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  33. ↑ "Studies of Initial Tonal Acquisition by American English Speakers Learning Yoruba". Academia. Retrieved June 2015.

External links

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