Gordon Douglas Killam (1930-2020), known to friends as Doug Killam, was a Canadian scholar of

African literature African literature is literature from Africa, either Oral literature, oral ("orature") or written in African languages, African and Afro-Asiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic languages. Examples of Precolonialism, pre-colonial African literature can be ...

Life

Killam was born on August 26, 1930, the son of Harry and Margaret Killam of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. After working as a producer with

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

, he gained a PhD from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in 1964 and moved into academia. He travelled and taught in Africa, in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. He also taught at Canadian Universities, including

UBC The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

and University of Acadia. At the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

he was the Foujnding Master of

Bethune College Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. ...

. At the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

he made the Department of English a recognised centre of

post-colonial studies Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their ...

. Predeceased by his wife Shelagh (née Anderson) in 1996, Killam died on November 17, 2020, of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

Works

* ''Africa in English fiction, 1874-1939''. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1968. * ''The novels of Chinua Achebe''. New York: Africana Pub. Corp., 1969. * (ed.) ''African writers on African writing''. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1972. * ''An introduction to the writings of Ngugi''. London: Heinemann Educational, 1980. * ''The writing of East and Central Africa''. London: Heinemann, 1984. * ''Critical perspectives on Ngugi wa Thiong'o''. Washington: Three Continents Press, 1984. * (ed. with Ruth Riwe) ''The companion to African literatures''. Indiana University Press, 1999. * ''Literature of Africa''. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. * (ed. with Alicia L. Kerfoot) ''Student encyclopedia of African literature''. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killam, Gordon Douglas 1930 births 2020 deaths Canadian academics Scholars of African literature Alumni of University College London Academic staff of the University of Guelph