Mpalive Msiska

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Mpalive-Hangson Msiska is a Malawian academic resident in London, England. He is a Reader Emeritus in English and Humanities at Birkbeck College, University of London, with research and teaching interests in critical and cultural theory as well as postcolonial literature, including African literature, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe being notable subjects of his writing. [1]

Contents

Background

Mpalive Msiska studied in Malawi, Canada, Germany and Scotland, and previously taught at the University of Malawi, the University of Stirling and Bath Spa University, before becoming Reader in English and Humanities at Birkbeck University of London. [2] [3] He is a former council member of the Royal African Society and serves on the advisory board of the Caine Prize. [4]

He has written many conference papers and journal articles, as well as books, among which are works on Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. His 2007 publication Postcolonial Identity in Wole Soyinka is described as "a major and imaginative contribution to the study of Wole Soyinka, African literature, and postcolonial cultural theory and one in which writing and creativity stand in fruitful symbiosis with the critical sense." [5] According to a review by Kate Haines: "Mpalive-Hangson Msiska compellingly reads Soyinka's creative and critical work in dialogue with cultural studies, using this to highlight the important contribution African critics and writers have made to the ways in which power is read and understood today." [6] Msiska co-authored The Quiet Chameleon: A Study of Modern Poetry from Central Africa (1992), and was co-editor of Writing and Africa (1997).

He has been a judge of such literary prizes as the International Dublin Literary Award, [7] [8] the Caine Prize for African Writing [9] and the Brunel University African Poetry Prize. [10]

Books

Selected shorter writings

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References

  1. ↑ Oduor Oduku, Richard (8 January 2018). "An African in London and Other Reflections on African Literatures". Brittle Paper . Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  2. ↑ "Contributors | Mpalive-Hangson Msiska", Africa Writes, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Staff in the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication | Emeritus Staff". Birkbeck University of London. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "About | Advisory Council". Caine Prize. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Msiska, Mpalive-Hangson (2007). Postcolonial Identity in Wole Soyinka. Cross/Cultures. Vol. 93.
  6. ↑ "Review of African Literatures and Beyond". Leeds African Studies Bulletin. University of Leeds Centre for African Studies (LUCAS). 2014–15. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "2003 | Judges". Dublin Literary Award. 2003. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "2018 | Judges". Dublin Literary Award. 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Pauli, Michelle (11 July 2006). "Mary Watson wins 'African Booker'". The Guardian .
  10. ↑ "Warsan Shire announced as first ever winner of Brunel University African Poetry Prize". Brunel University London. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  11. ↑ Msiska, Mpalive-Hangson, "Sexual Politics in Malawian Popular Fiction: The Case of Aubrey Kalitera's Why Father Why", Kunapipi, 11(3), 1989.
  12. ↑ Msiska, Mpalive, "What is Black-British Writing?", African Writing Online, October/November 2007.
  13. ↑ Msiska, Mpalive-Hangson (2014), "Imagined nations and imaginary Nigeria: Chinua Achebe’s quest for a country", Journal of Genocide Research, 16:2–3, 401–419.
  14. ↑ Mpalive-Hangson, Msiska (2016). "The novel and decolonization in Africa". In Gikandi, S. (ed.). The Novel in Africa and the Caribbean since 1950. The Oxford History of the Novel in English 16. London, UK and New York, U.S.: Oxford University Press. pp. 37–55. ISBN   9780199765096.
  15. ↑ Msiska, Mpalive-Hangson (2017), "Kujoni: South Africa in Malawi's National Imaginary", Journal of Southern African Studies, 43:5, 1011–1029, DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2017.1360634.
  16. ↑ Msiska, Mpalive-Hangson (2017), "Rethinking the future of Humanities in Africa and the question of epistemological agency", Journal of Humanities, University of Malawi, 25 (1), pp. 5–30. ISSN 1016-0728.
  17. ↑ Msiska, Mpalive-Hangson (2018), "Colonialism, trauma and affect: Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God as Oduche's Return". Research in African Literatures 49 (4), pp. 46–66. ISSN 0034-5210.
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