Literature & Ideas
Landmark
Taban Lo Liyong
born 1939
South Sudan's foremost writer, and a deliberate provocateur
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the South Sudan Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
More than twenty books of poetry, plays, stories, essays and criticism — and a lifelong habit of picking arguments with the whole of African letters.
Taban Lo Liyong was born in 1939 at Kajo Kaji in the Equatoria region of southern Sudan and taken to Uganda as a small child.
He is a poet, academic, novelist and critic, the author of more than twenty books across poetry, plays, short stories, essays, children's writing, criticism and folktales. His short narratives and unorthodox free verse are matched by argumentative and often deliberately provoking essays and literary criticism, and he is the best-known writer South Sudan has produced.
He is a poet, academic, novelist and critic, the author of more than twenty books across poetry, plays, short stories, essays, children's writing, criticism and folktales. His short narratives and unorthodox free verse are matched by argumentative and often deliberately provoking essays and literary criticism, and he is the best-known writer South Sudan has produced.
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