Episode description

“The writers of our time who used to criticise the government are no longer there.”

Today on the podcast, Alan has the pleasure and privilege of speaking to one of Africa’s great writers: the South Sudanese author Taban Lo Liyong.

In the 1960s he rubbed shoulders with independence politicians like Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah and with giants of African literature like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

He was taken to Uganda as a young child and spent his formative years there – but now lives in his native South Sudan.

On today’s podcast he discusses language, the impact of HIV Aids, and why he’s not ready to stop work at the age of 93 years. He says he still has two more books in him…