Peter Nazareth (born 27 April 1940) is a British literary critic and writer of fiction and drama.

Life

Peter Nazareth was born in Uganda. He is of Goan descent, and his mother's family was earlier based in Malaya-Malaysia-Singapore. He was educated 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 ...

(

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda), where he received his BA in English Literature in 1962, and at the universities of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in England. While residing in Africa, he simultaneously served as senior finance officer in

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

's finance ministry until 1973, when he accepted a fellowship at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and emigrated to the United States from Uganda.

In academia

He is a professor of English and African-American World Studies at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or 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 organized int ...

, where he is also a consultant to the International Writing Program. Nazareth taught that university's course "Elvis as Anthology", which explores the deep mythological roots of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's roles in popular culture. This class on Elvis led to Nazareth being interviewed by a range of publications — ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'',

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

, AP, ''World News Tonight With Peter Jennings'', NBC's '' The Today Show'', ABC Chicago,

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and the ''Cedar Rapids Gazette'', among others, according to his cv. He teaches and has written about African,

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, Goan, and other literatures. His publications include ''In the Trickster Tradition: The Novels of Andrew Salkey, Francis Ebejer, and Ishmael Reed'' (1994); ''Edwin Thumboo: Creating a Nation Through Poetry'' (2008); and the long essay "Elvis as Anthology" in Vernon Chadwick (ed.), ''In Search of Elvis: Music, Race, Art, Religion''. Nazareth edited ''Critical Essays on Ngugi wa Thiong'o'' (2000) and ''Pivoting on the Point of Return: Modern Goan Literature'' (2010). His first novel, ''In a Brown Mantle'' (1972), has been taught at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

and by Ngugi wa Thiong’o at U.C. Irvine. His literary criticisms have often involved observations of the fate of diverse global economic and academic migrants, spanning the Asian, African and black American cultural histories. This includes the Goan diaspora settled in Western countries, the post-

Asian emigration from Eastern Africa, and the cultural superstitions of the pre- Obama presidency of American politics. Nazareth has edited a special issue of the journal '' Callaloo'' on Goan literature, and an anthology of its literature, and has championed the work of Mozambique-born Goan writer Violet Dias Lannoy..

Family

He has been married to Mary Nazareth for more than 50 years. They have two daughters.

Works

Books

* ''In a Brown Mantle'', East African Literature Bureau, 1972; Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau, 1981. * ''Literature and Society in Modern Africa'', East African Literature Bureau, 1972; Kenya Literature Bureau, 1980; published as ''An African View of Literature'', Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1974. * ''Two Radio Plays'', East African Literature Bureau, 1976. * ''The Third World Writer: His Social Responsibility'', Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau, 1978. * ''Literature of the African Peoples'', Study Guide for Independent Study with audiotape/CD, Center for Credit Programs, The University of Iowa, 1983. * ''A Feny Fele'', Budapest: Europa Publishing House, 1984 (selected essays in Hungarian translation) * '' The General is Up'', Toronto: TSAR Books, 1991 * ''In the Trickster Tradition: The Novels of Andrew Salkey, Francis Ebejer and Ishmael Reed'', London: Bogle-L'Ouverture Press, 1994. * ''Edwin Thumboo: Creating a Nation Through Poetry'', Singapore: Interlogue Series Vol. 7, Ethos Books, 2008.

Ebooks

* ''Re-Membering Singapore''. * ''Elvis -- Rewriting the World through Multicultural Movies''.

Edited anthologies

* ''African Writing Today'', special issue of ''Pacific Quarterly Moana'', Hamilton, New Zealand: Outrigger Publishers, Vol. 6, No. 3/4, 1981. * ''Goan Literature: A Modern Reader'', issue of the ''Journal of South Asian Literature'', East Lansing: Michigan State University, 1983. * ''Critical Essays on Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o'', New York: G.K. Hall, 2000. * ''Uganda South Asians Exodus: Kololian Perspectives'' (co-edited), University of Toronto, 2002.

References

External links

* Megan Carney
"Peter Nazareth, Ugandan Born UI Professor Enlivens Classes with His Multi-cultural Heritage"
''The Iowa Source'', 8 February 2008.
One of a Kind: Peter Nazareth

Books by Peter Nazareth

Peter Nazareth, Ugandan and UI Professor, Feb08 , Ugandan Born UI Professor Enlivens Classes with His Multi-cultural Heritage

Peter Nazareth, University of Iowa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazareth, Peter Ugandan emigrants to the United States Ugandan academics Living people 1940 births Makerere University alumni Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Leeds Yale University faculty University of Iowa faculty Ugandan people of Goan descent Literary critics Ugandan dramatists and playwrights International Writing Program alumni Ugandan expatriates in the United Kingdom