Biography of Eustace Palmer (Doc P.)

A native Sierra Leonean, Eustace Palmer was educated in Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom where he obtained an MA (honors in English Language and Literature) degree and Ph.D., specializing in eighteenth-century English Literature, from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He taught for several years at Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone, where he was Professor of English, Chair of the English Department, Dean of the Faculty (School) of Arts, Public Orator, and Dean of Graduate Studies. One of the pioneer critics of African Literature, he has published one book on the English novel—Studies in the English Novel—and five on African Literature: An Introduction to the African Novel; The Growth of the African Novel; Of War and Women Oppression and Optimism: New Essays on the African Novel; Knowledge is More Than Mere Words: A Critical Introduction to Sierra Leonean Literature (jointly edited with Abioseh Michael Porter; and Emerging Perspectives on Syl Cheney-Coker (jointly edited with Ernest Cole)). He is the author of four novels: Canfira’s Travels, A Hanging Is Announced, A Tale of Three Women, and A Pillar of the Community. He has also published over seventy articles on English and African literatures and Africa: An Introduction, a general textbook on Africa. He was for several years Associate Editor of African Literature Today, One of the two leading journals on African Literature, and was President of the African Literature Association and Chair of the Georgia University System Africa Council Eustace Palmer was visiting Fulbright Professor in the English Department of the University of Texas at Austin, 1986-87; and African Scholar in Residence at Randolph Macon Woman’s College, 1992-93. He joined Georgia College & State University, the public Liberal Arts University of the state of Georgia, in January 1994, where he was Distinguished Professor of English and Coordinator of Africana Studies. His awards include the African Literature Association’s Distinguished Member award; Georgia College and State University’s Distinguished Professor award, Professor of the Year Award, as well as Excellence in Community Service award; and the Georgia College International Center’s Excellence in Global Education award. Professor Palmer is now retired and lives in Georgia, USA.