Ezekiel Mphahlele

(Es’kia) (1919-2008) Poet, playwright, novelist, academic and cultural leader. Trained at **, then became a teacher and journalist, writing for **, ** and Drum Magazine. *** Dramatised A Tale of Two Cities, which toured Transvaal. As headmaster of Orlando High School in 1945, he introduced drama into the school. He later became director of the African Music and Drama Association (AMDA). Because blacks were prohibited from going to theatres or concert halls, he formed the Syndicate of African Artists, with the aim of exposing blacks to "serious" music and the arts. In 1957 he went into exile to live in Nigeria, Paris and Nairobi, Kenya (where he became a leading figure in the literary landscape in both East and West Africa ***). He then moved to the USA to lecture for a while at the University of Denver, before returning in 1979 to become Professor of Comparative and African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand. His autobiography - Down Second Avenue (1959) - recounts his earlier life in South Africa. His plays include Oganda’s Journey (1979), .*** His short story, The Suitcase, was adapted to the stage in 2005, starring Mbulelo Grootboom and directed by James Ngcobo.

He died in October 2008 at the age of 89.

Sources

(See De Beer, 1995;Gosher, 1988) [TH, JH]

The Star, 30 October 2008.

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