Occupation writer, Academic Nationality Ugandan | Name Pio Zirimu Died 1977 | |
Alma mater Makerere UniversityKing's College Budo Notable works Black Aesthetics: Papers from a Colloquium Held at the University of Nairobi, June, 1971 Education Makerere University, King's College Budo | ||
Pio Zirimu (died 1977) was a Ugandan linguist, scholar and literary theorist. He is credited with coining the word "orature" as an alternative to the self contadictory term, "oral literature used to refer to the non-written expressive African traditions. Zirimu was also central in reforming the literature syllabus at Makerere University to focus on African literature and culture instead of the English canon.
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Early life and education
Zirumu was born in Buganda. He attended high school at King's College Budo, and subsequently went to Makerere University college, and the University of Leeds, where he was a contemporary of Ngugi wa Thiong'o. While at Makerere, Zirimu met Ugandan poet and dramatist Elvania Namukwaya Zirimu. They were to marry a few years later. The marriage produced a daughter.
Teaching
Zirimu later taught at the Institute of Languages Studies at Makerere, where he was involved in the formulation of standards for judging emergent African literature in the 1960s.