Joseph Diescho
Joseph Diescho | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 10, 1955 |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, political analyst |
Joseph Diescho (born 10 April 1955[1]) is a Namibian writer and political analyst. In 1988, he wrote Born of the Sun, the first novel by a native-born Namibian author.[2]
Biography
[edit]Born in Andara, Kavango Region,[3] Diescho attended Fort Hare University in South Africa where he studied law and political science. During his student days, he worked against the apartheid system and was imprisoned in Peddie and East London. Whilst working for a diamond mine company he helped found a worker's union. In 1984, he became a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University in New York City, where he completed his PhD in Political Science in 1992. His dissertation, entitled, "The Role of Education in the Politics of Control in Namibia: 1948–1988," explored the relationship between politics and education in Namibia. JOSEPH DIESCHO, a Namibian writer and a political analyst.
Joseph Diescho (born 10 April 1955) is a Namibian writer and political analyst. Born in Andara, Kavango East Region, DIESCHO is one of Namibia's very few native-born novelist. He was raised in a rural village near the Roman Catholic mission of Andara in northern Namibia. He graduated in political science and law from Fort Hare University before going on to study in Germany and the USA for his post-graduate degrees.
Diescho attended Fort Hare University in South Africa where he studied law and political science. During his student days, he worked against the apartheid system and was imprisoned in Peddie and East London. Whilst working for a diamond mine company, he helped found a worker's union. In 1984, he became a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University in New York City, where he completed his PhD in Political Science in 1992. His dissertation, entitled, "The Role of Education in the Politics of Control in Namibia: 1948–1988," explored the relationship between politics and education in Namibia.
He was an award-winning television announcer for the programme South Africa Now! on American public television. In 1997-8, he was the founder and presenter of The Big Picture, a weekly economic and political analysis programme on SABC 2.
His novel Born of the Sun was published in the US in 1988 and his second novel Troubled Waters was published in 1993. His two novels both have Namibian settings. Born of the Sun, partly autobiographical, is set in the early 1960s and traces the growth of political consciousness in Muronga, who leaves the idyllic village of Kake in eastern Kavango to work in the mines. The work ends with the possibility of homecoming for the exiled hero still in the distant future. Set in 1974, Troubled Waters is a novel of transition, focusing on two young people who are distanced from their roots as a result of political change. There is a vision of a fractured tribal society, and always present are the guerilla fighters of the Namibian war. Troubled Waters reveals a penetrating political understanding and signifies a quantum leap in Diescho's development as a writer. Diescho has also edited a collection of Namibian folktales.
Diescho was the Executive Director of the Namibian Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) from 1 July 2013 until December 2015 when he was dismissed.[4]
In early 2019 he left Namibia for Germany citing political disagreements with the ruling Namibian government and public institutions as the reasons.
He was an award-winning television announcer for the program South Africa Now! on American public television. In 1997–8, he was the founder and presenter of The Big Picture, a weekly economic and political analysis program on SABC 2.
His novel Born of the Sun was published in the US in 1988 and his second novel Troubled Waters was published in 1993. He is one of Namibia's very few native-born novelists.
Diescho was the executive director of the Namibian Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) from 1 July 2013 until December 2015 when he was dismissed without a clear reason.
References
[edit]- ^ Tonchi, Victor L; Lindeke, William A; Grotpeter, John J (2012). Historical Dictionary of Namibia. Historical Dictionaries of Africa, African historical dictionaries (2 ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780810879904.
- ^ Making a Literature: The Case of Namibia Author(s): Michael Chapman Source: English in Africa, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Oct. 1995), pp. 19–28 Published by: Institute for the Study of English in Africa, Rhodes University
- ^ Joseph Diescho Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Namibia Institute for Democracy
- ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- "Joseph Diescho". Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2002.
- Diescho, Joseph, with Celeste Wallin. Born of the Sun: a Namibian Novel. New York City: Friendship Press, 1988.
- Diescho, Joseph. Troubled Waters: A Novel. 1993. Windhoek, Namibia: Gamsberg Macmillan Publishers.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
  | This article about a Namibian writer or poet is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1955 births
- Living people
- Humanists
- Namibian Christians
- Namibian trade unionists
- South West African anti-apartheid activists
- University of Fort Hare alumni
- Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
- People from Kavango Region
- Namibian expatriates in South Africa
- Namibian expatriates in the United States
- 20th-century Namibian writers
- 20th-century novelists
- 20th-century male writers
- Namibian novelists
- Male novelists
- Namibian people stubs
- Southern African writer stubs