David Cook (literary Critic)
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David Cook (1929 – 30 March 2003) was a British academic, literary critic and anthologist. As a professor of literature at the Universities of
Makerere Makerere ( ) is a neighborhood in the city of Kampala, Uganda's capital city. The name also applies to the hill on which this neighborhood is perched; one of the original seven hills that constituted Kampala at the time of its founding, in the ...
and
Ilorin Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. The city is a major hub for transportation and commerce in the region. . Retrieved 18 February 2007 Although Ilorin is classified under the North-Central g ...
, he played an important role in encouraging
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
in
East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
.Gaaki Kigambo
Makerere's beautiful mind
, ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 19 May 2009.


Life

David Cook was educated at Birkbeck College, London, graduating from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
in 1954 with a first-class degree in English literature, and completing a MA in 1956. He then taught at the
University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...
until 1962, when he became a lecturer at
Makerere University Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...
. He became Senior Lecturer in 1965, and Professor and Head of department in 1967. From 1977 to 1989 he was Professor of English and Head of the Department of Modern European Languages at the
University of Ilorin University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) is a federal government-owned public research university in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The university's main campus sits on an expansive area of land, about 5,000 hectares in the ancient city of Ilorin; making ...
.Raji, Wumi, "Tribute to David Cook", ''Research in African Literatures'', Vol. 35, No. 1, Spring 2004, pp. 3-5.


Works

* (ed.) ''Origin East Africa: a Makerere anthology'', London : Heinemann Educational Books, 1965.
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 ...
, 15. * (ed. with Miles Lee) ''Short East African plays in English: ten plays in English'', London & Nairobi: Heinemann Educational, 1968. * (ed. with David Rubadiri) ''Poems from East Africa'', London: Heinemann Educational, 1971.
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 ...
96. * (ed.) ''In black and white : writings from East Africa with broadcast discussions and commentary'', Kampala: East African Literature Bureau, 1976 * ''African Literature: a critical view'', London: Longman, 1977 * (with Michael Okenimpke) ''Ngugi wa Thiong'o, an exploration of his writings'', London: Heinemann, 1983 * (ed. with Olu Obafemi and Wumi Raji) ''Rising Voices: an anthology of new Nigerian poetry'', Yaba, Lagos : Kraft Books, 1991


References

1929 births 2003 deaths British literary critics Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of the University of Southampton Academic staff of Makerere University Academic staff of the University of Ilorin British expatriates in Nigeria British expatriates in Uganda {{UK-academic-bio-stub