African Literature Conference At Makerere University.
Synopsis. About the Book. This anthology marks the 55th anniversary of the historic 1962 Makerere Conference of African Literature in Uganda bringing together post-independence African writers many of whom would go on to play major roles in defining Africa’s literary history. One of them wrote; “we were amazed that fate had entrusted us with the task of interpreting a continent to the.
In June 1962, Mbari organized the First Conference of African Writers of English Expression at Makerere to determine the parameters of African literature. Opposing the notion of “African Personality”, the delegates searched for a broader scope of contemporary African writing.
The conference opened with a discussion on the nature and meaning of “African literature”, and its thematic debates have gone on to shape writing across the continent for the past 50 years.
It was an enormously important moment, and year, in the history of modern African literature. The gathering took place at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. (It was at that conference that a young Kenyan student ventured to ask Chinua Achebe to read the manuscripts of his two novels. The name of the student was Ngugi.
Nigerian literary legend and Nobel Laurette for Literature Prof Wole Soyinka and Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o (below) attended the first African Writers’ Conference at Makerere University in June 1962.
Two ideas emerging from the Makerere and other conferences have come to dominate African literary expression: (1) African literature and the African writer capture the African world view, which can be thought of as the sum total of the socio-political ideas and practices of African traditional society; (2) African literature is functional, aiding the African struggle, and the African writer is.
In 1962 a conference of African literature in English language, the first African Writers Conference, was held at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.It was attended by many prominent African writers, including Chinua Achebe (winner of the Commonwealth Prize), Wole Soyinka (later Nobel Laureate in Literature), Ezekiel Mphahlele, Lewis Nkosi, Ngugi wa Thiong'o (then known as James Ngugi) and.