Peter K. Palangyo (1939 - 18 January 1993) was a Tanzanian novelist and diplomat. His reputation rests on a single novel, ''Dying in the Sun'' (1968), which is considered by many to be one of the most compelling works of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

in African writing from this period.

Biography

Born in Meru District of Arusha Region, Palangyo was educated locally, in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and the United States. He majored in biology at

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and the Patron Saint Olaf ...

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and went on to graduate school at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Abandoning the sciences for literature, he earned a diploma of education from

Makerere University College Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

and taught in several secondary schools. In 1968, Palangyo returned to the United States to join the writers' workshop at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, and received an MFA in creative writing. Returning to Tanzania in 1972, he taught at the University of Dar es Salaam before joining the diplomatic service. At one point he was Tanzania's Ambassador to France. In 1980, he earned a PhD from University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, with a thesis on Chinua Achebe.Palangyo, ''The African sense of self with special reference to Chinua Achebe : a dissertation'', PhD thesis, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1980. Palangyo died in a car accident in 1993.

Works

* ''Dying in the Sun'', London: Heinemann, 1968.

African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an int ...

53.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palangyo, Peter K. 1939 births 1993 deaths University of Minnesota alumni St. Olaf College alumni Tanzanian novelists Tanzanian diplomats Modernist writers 20th-century novelists Ambassadors of Tanzania to France International Writing Program alumni English-language writers from Tanzania Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni people from Arusha Region