Jane Okot P’bitek

P'bitek Jane Okot
 
Birthdate: June 28, 1966
 
Place of birth: Gulu, northern Uganda
 
Languages spoken: Acholi, English, Kiswahili
 
Writing language: English
 
Education: Jane p'Bitek went to primary schools in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda (it depended on where her legendary father, the then exiled, Okot p'Bitek worked) before entering Mt. St. Mary's, Namagunga.
She graduated with an LL.B. (lions), Makerere University, in 1990. After, she enrolled at the Law Development Centre, Kampala, for a diploma in Legal Practice which she acquired in 1991. In 1998 Jane attained the graduateship of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. North East Worcestershire College.
 
Employment: Started work in June 1992 as Legal Assistant with Egonda Ntende & Co. Advocates before joining Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd., Masindi, as Contracts Administrator the following year. Currently working as Company Secretary Designate, Jane has also previously held the positions of Office Administrator and Assistant Company Secretary in the same organization.

Bibliography: Song of Farewell. Kampala: Fountain, 1994
 
Comment: Song of Farewell is the song of a newly married and pregnant woman whose husband has answered the call of wax six weeks before their baby is born. She sings of her anguish and the trials and tribulations that she goes through during her husband's absence. Her song is rich in imagery. Indeed this poet concerns herself with issues in our daily life, especially man's craze for war.

The book questions the fruits of war. Other issues she deals with relate to love, hatred, anxiety and the pressures of daily life. The major influence on Jane's writing is the work of her father, the late literary icon Okot p'Bitek. 'I admire his style in putting across his thoughts and ideas,' she says of the man who popularized the song approach to free verse.
Needless to say, the daughter adopted the song style in Song of Fare well, and it is the same style in the second book that is presently in the works.