taban
lo liyong
Taban Lo Liyong is a South Sudanese poet, critic, novelist, and short-story writer, was born in South Sudan.
My Story
Taban Lo Liyong is a South Sudanese poet, critic, novelist, and short-story writer, was born in South Sudan. He received his early education at Gulu High School and the Sir Samuel Baker School, and subsequently studied at a teachers’ college in Uganda, at Howard University, USA (BA), and at the University of Iowa, USA, where he was the first African to receive the MFA degree in creative writing and where he cultivated his unconventional writing style.
He has taught at several universities, including the University of Papua New Guinea, the University of Nairobi in Kenya, where he co- founded the department of literature with Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Juba University in Khartoum, Sudan. A former cultural affairs director in southern Sudan, he taught at the University of Venda in South Africa. His expertise lies in Indigenous knowledge systems of the world, poetry, essays, short stories, drama, critical essays and theorizing. Throughout his career he has authored over 30 books and contributed to various literature works.
Areas of expertise
Lecturing
Research
Editing
Writing
Workshop Facilitation
Public Speaking
World religions
Training
Academic advisement of students
Student Supervision
World Literature
African Politics
Education
1958 – 1959
Kyambogo Teacher Training College
1955 – 1957
Sir Samuel Baker School
1952 – 1954
Gulu High school
1945 – 1951
Bobi Full Primay School
1966 – 1968
Masters of Fine Arts, Creative Writing, Fellow of International Writers
Workshop, University of Iowa, Iowa City
1964 – 1966
BA English and Journalism, Howard University , Washington, DC
African Scholarship Program of American Universities Scholar
1962 – 1963
Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tennessee
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
2012 – Ongoing Professor Literature Department
College of Education, University of Juba, Juba, South Sudan.
• Supervise graduate and undergraduate students
• Researcher
• Writer
2006 – 2012 Professor,
Literature Department, University of Juba, Kadoru, Khartoum, Sudan
Deputy Dean, College of Arts, Music and Drama, University of Juba, Juba, South
Sudan.
1996 – 2005 Professor and Inauguration
African Studies Center ( later Es’kia Mphahlele Centre of African Studies), University of
Venda for Science and Technology, Thohoyandou, Republic of South Africa.
1995 Professor, English Literature
Venda University of Technology, Thohoyandou, Republic of South Africa.
1994 – 1995 Inaugural Visiting Professor in the Social Sciences
Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
1995 Professor, English Literature
Venda University of Technology, Thohoyandou, Republic of South Africa.
1994 Professor Summer Studies,
African Political System vs Other Systems, University of West Australia, Perth, Australia
1993 – 1994 Visiting Professor
Researching on African Religions and Words for Numerals, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka Japan
1984 – 1993 Senior Lecturer
Literature Department, University of Juba
1982 – 1984 Chairman,
Committee of Information and Culture, Regional Parliament, Southern Sudan
1981 – 1983 Member of Parliament for Kajokaji
Regional Parliament, Southern Sudan, Sudan
1978 – 1979 Public Relations Officer,
University of Juba, Juba, Sudan.
1975 – 1977 Senior Lecturer and Head of Department
University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby.
1969 – 1975 Lecturer
English Department, University of Nairobi, Kenya
1968 – 1969 Tutorial Fellow,
Institute for Development Studies, Cultural Division, Royal College of East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
1960 – 1962 Teacher
Gulu High School, Uganda
My Books
The Last Word
Fixions
Popular Culture of East Africa
After Troy
Taban lo-Liyong Eunice Malath show interview 01 August 2014
South Sudan Kuku Conference May 25 2014