Euphrase Kezilahabi is a Tanzanian novelist, poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, and scholar. Born in Ukerewe

Ukerewe

Ukerewe is one of the 8 districts of the Mwanza Region of Tanzania. It is located on Ukerewe Island and the largest settlement is Nansio. According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of Ukerewe District was 261,944....

, Tanganyika

Tanganyika

Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...

 (now in Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

), he is currently based at the University of Botswana

University of Botswana

The University of Botswana, or UB was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has four campuses: two in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The university is divided into six faculties: Business, Education,...

, where he is an Associate Professor at the Department of African Languages

African languages

There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...

.

He writes in Swahili

Swahili language

Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...

, and has delivered talks on subjects such as 'Aesthetic Ambivalence in Modern Swahili' and 'The Concept of the Hero in African Fiction'.

His works include:

• Mzingile - 1991
• Nagona - 1990
• Karibu Ndani - 1988
• Rosa Mistika - 1988
• The Concept of the Hero in African Fiction - 1983