Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938) is a

Kenyan ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

author and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu and who formerly wrote in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. He has been described as having been "considered East Africa’s leading novelist". His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story ''The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright'', is translated into 100 languages from around the world. In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

in his native Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances.Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, ''Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature'', 1994, pp. 57–59. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation hatproduces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although his landmark play, '' Ngaahika Ndeenda'', co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening. Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for over a year. Adopted as an

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

prisoner of conscience, the artist was released from prison, and fled Kenya. In the United States, he is currently Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

. He has also previously taught at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. Ngũgĩ has frequently been regarded as a likely candidate for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

. He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are the authors

Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ (born 1971) is a Kenyan American poet, author, and academic. He is associate professor of literatures in English at Cornell University and co-founder of the Safal-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Writing. His father is the au ...

and

Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ Wanjikũ wa Ngũgĩ (born 1970s) is a Kenyan writer, who has lived and worked in Eritrea, Zimbabwe and Finland. She is the founder and former director of the Helsinki African Film Festival (HAFF). Also a political analyst, she is a member of the e ...

Biography

Early years and education

Ngũgĩ was born in

Kamiriithu Kamirithu is a settlement in Kambu County, within Kenya's former Central Province. It was one of the colonial villages established during the scramble for the Kenyan "White Highlands" in the early 1900s. Kamirithu is the home of Chief Kamiri ...

, near Limuru in Kiambu district,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, of

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya *Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Centr ...

descent, and baptised James Ngugi. His family was caught up in the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

; his half-brother Mwangi was actively involved in the

Kenya Land and Freedom Army The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, was a guerrilla army, formed mainly by the people of central and eastern Kenya, dominated by the Kikuyu people. It resisted British colonialism in Kenya from the late 1940s to ...

(during which he was killed), another brother was shot during the State of Emergency, and his mother was tortured at Kamiriithu home guard post. He went to the Alliance High School, and went on to study at

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of n ...

College in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and R ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

. As a student he attended the

African Writers Conference In June 1962"The First Makerere African W ...

held at Makerere in June 1962,Frederick Philander
"Namibian Literature at the Cross Roads"
''New Era'', 18 April 2008. and his play '' The Black Hermit'' premiered as part of the event at The National Theatre. At the conference Ngũgĩ asked Chinua Achebe to read the manuscripts of his novels ''The River Between'' and ''Weep Not, Child'', which would subsequently be published in Heinemann's

African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an international audience for ...

, launched in London that year, with Achebe as its first advisory editor.James Currey
"Ngũgĩ, Leeds and the Establishment of African Literature"
in ''

Leeds African Studies Bulletin Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) is an interdisciplinary centre at the University of Leeds that was established in 1964, and has members from a variety of faculties who share an interest in African Studies. The English, Geography ...

'' 74 (December 2012), pp. 48–62. Ngũgĩ received his B.A. in

from Makerere University College, Uganda, in 1963.

First publications and studies in England

His debut novel, ''

Weep Not, Child ''Weep Not, Child'' is a 1964 novel by Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. It was his first novel, published in 1964 under the name James Ngugi. It was among the African Writers Series. It was the first English language, English novel to be publi ...

'', was published in May 1964, becoming the first novel in English to be published by a writer from East Africa. Later that year, having won a scholarship to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

to study for an MA, Ngũgĩ travelled to England, where he was when his second novel, ''

The River Between ''The River Between'' is a 1965 novel by prolific Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o that was published as part of the influential African Writers Series. It tells the story of the separation of two neighbouring villages of Kenya caused by differen ...

'', came out in 1965. ''The River Between'', which has as its background the Mau Mau Uprising, and described an unhappy romance between Christians and non-Christians, was previously on Kenya's national secondary school syllabus. He left Leeds without completing his thesis on Caribbean literature, for which his studies had focused on George Lamming, about whom Ngũgĩ said in his 1972 collection of essays ''Homecoming'': "He evoked for me, an unforgettable picture of a peasant revolt in a white-dominated world. And suddenly I knew that a novel could be made to speak to me, could, with a compelling urgency, touch cords icdeep down in me. His world was not as strange to me as that of Fielding, Defoe, Smollett,

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

, George Eliot, Dickens,

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

Change of name, ideology and teaching

Ngũgĩ's 1967 novel ''

A Grain of Wheat ''A Grain of Wheat'' is a historical novel written by Kenyan novelist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, first published as part of the influential Heinemann African Writers Series. It was written while he was studying at Leeds University and first published ...

'' marked his embrace of Fanonist

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. He subsequently renounced writing in English, and the name James Ngugi as

colonialist Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

; by 1970 he had changed his name to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and began to write in his native Gikuyu. In 1967, Ngũgĩ also began teaching at the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a collegiate research university based in Nairobi. It is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dates back to 1956, it did not become an independent univer ...

as a professor of English literature. He continued to teach at the university for ten years while serving as a Fellow in Creative Writing at Makerere. During this time, he also guest lectured at

in the department of English and African Studies for a year. While a professor at the University of Nairobi, Ngũgĩ was the catalyst of the discussion to abolish the English department. He argued that after the end of colonialism, it was imperative that a university in Africa teach African literature, including oral literature, and that such should be done with the realization of the richness of African languages.

Imprisonment

In 1976, Thiong'o helped to establish The Kamiriithu Community Education and Cultural Centre which, among other things, organised African Theatre in the area. The following year saw the publication of Petals of Blood. Its strong political message, and that of his play ''Ngaahika Ndeenda'' (''I Will Marry When I Want''), co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii and also published in 1977, provoked the then Kenyan Vice-President Daniel arap Moi to order his arrest. Along with copies of his play, books by

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

were confiscated. He was sent to

Kamiti Maximum Security Prison Kamiti Maximum Security Prison is a prison in Nairobi County, Kenya. The prison is within Roysambu Constituency, Kasarani District, bordering Kiambu County. Originally named "Kamiti Downs", it sits in the middle of its own estates which lie fa ...

, and kept there without a trial for nearly a year. He was imprisoned in a cell with other political prisoners. During part of their imprisonment, they were allowed one hour of sunlight a day. Ngũgĩ writes "The compound used to be for the mentally deranged convicts before it was put to better use as a cage for 'the politically deranged." He found solace in writing and wrote the first modern novel in Gikuyu, '' Devil on the Cross'' (''Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ''), on prison-issued

toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...

. After his release in December 1978, he was not reinstated to his job as professor at

Nairobi University , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

, and his family was harassed. Due to his writing about the injustices of the dictatorial government at the time, Ngũgĩ and his family were forced to live in exile. Only after Arap Moi, the longest-serving Kenyan president, retired in 2002, was it safe for them to return. During his time in prison, Ngũgĩ made the decision to cease writing his plays and other works in English and began writing all his creative works in his native tongue, Gikuyu. His time in prison also inspired the play ''The Trial of Dedan Kimathi'' (1976). He wrote this in collaboration with Micere Githae Mugo.

Exile

While in exile, Ngũgĩ worked with the London-based Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Kenya (1982–98). ''Matigari ma Njiruungi'' (translated by

Wangui wa Goro Wangui wa Goro (born 1961) is a Kenyan academic, social critic, researcher, translator and writer based in the UK. As a public intellectual she has an interest in the development of African languages and literatures, as well as being consistently ...

into English as ''Matigari'') was published at this time. In 1984, he was Visiting Professor at Bayreuth University, and the following year was Writer-in-Residence for the Borough of Islington in London. He also studied film at Dramatiska Institute in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropolita ...

(1986). His later works include ''Detained'', his prison diary (1981), '' Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature'' (1986), an essay arguing for African writers' expression in their native languages rather than European languages, in order to renounce lingering colonial ties and to build an authentic African literature, and ''Matigari'' (translated by Wangui wa Goro), (1987), one of his most famous works, a satire based on a Gikuyu folk tale. Ngũgĩ was Visiting Professor of English and Comparative Literature at

between 1989 and 1992. In 1992, he was guest at the Congress of South African Writers and spent time in Zwide Township with Mzi Mahola, the year he became a professor of Comparative Literature and Performance Studies at

, where he held the Erich Maria Remarque Chair. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature as well as having been the first director of the International Center for Writing and Translation at the

2000s

On 8 August 2004, Ngũgĩ returned to Kenya as part of a month-long tour of East Africa. On 11 August, robbers broke into his high-security apartment: they assaulted Ngũgĩ, sexually assaulted his wife and stole various items of value. When Ngũgĩ returned to America at the end of his month trip, five men were arrested on suspicion of the crime, including Ngũgĩ's own nephew. In the summer 2006 the American publishing firm

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

published his first new novel in nearly two decades, ''

Wizard of the Crow ''Wizard of the Crow'' ( Gikuyu: ''Mũrogi wa Kagogo'') is a 2006 novel written by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and translated from the original Kikuyu into English by the author, his first novel in more than 20 years. The story is set in the imaginary F ...

'', translated to English from Gikuyu by the author. On 10 November 2006, while in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

at Hotel Vitale at the Embarcadero, Ngũgĩ was harassed and ordered to leave the hotel by an employee. The event led to a public outcry and angered both African-Americans and members of the African diaspora living in America, prompting an apology by the hotel. His recent books include ''Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing'' (2012), and ''Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance'', a collection of essays published in 2009 making the argument for the crucial role of African languages in "the resurrection of African memory", about which ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' said: "Ngugi’s language is fresh; the questions he raises are profound, the argument he makes is clear: 'To starve or kill a language is to starve and kill a people’s memory bank.'" This was followed by two well received autobiographical works: ''Dreams in a Time of War: a Childhood Memoir'' (2010) and ''In the House of the Interpreter: A Memoir'' (2012), which was described as "brilliant and essential" by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', among other positive reviews. His book ''The Perfect Nine'', originally written and published in Gikuyu as '' Kenda Muiyuru: Rugano Rwa Gikuyu na Mumbi'' (2019), was translated into English by Ngũgĩ for its 2020 publication, and is a reimagining in epic poetry of his people's origin story. It was described by the ''Los Angeles Times'' as "a quest novel-in-verse that explores folklore, myth and allegory through a decidedly feminist and pan-African lens." The review in ''

World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book revie ...

'' said:

"Ngũgĩ crafts a beautiful retelling of the Gĩkũyũ myth that emphasizes the noble pursuit of beauty, the necessity of personal courage, the importance of filial piety, and a sense of the Giver Supreme—a being who represents divinity, and unity, across world religions. All these things coalesce into dynamic verse to make ''The Perfect Nine'' a story of miracles and perseverance; a chronicle of modernity and myth; a meditation on beginnings and endings; and a palimpsest of ancient and contemporary memory, as Ngũgĩ overlays the Perfect Nine's feminine power onto the origin myth of the Gĩkũyũ people of Kenya in a moving rendition of the epic form."

Fiona Sampson Fiona Ruth Sampson, is a British poet and writer. She is published in thirty-seven languages and has received a number of national and international awards for her writing. A former musician, Sampson has written on the links between music a ...

writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' concluded that it is "a beautiful work of integration that not only refuses distinctions between 'high art' and traditional storytelling, but supplies that all-too rare human necessity: the sense that life has meaning." In March 2021, ''The Perfect Nine'' became the first work written in an indigenous African language to be longlisted for the International Booker Prize, with Ngũgĩ becoming the first nominee as both the author and translator of the same book.

Family

Four of his children are also published authors: Tee Ngũgĩ,

, Nducu wa Ngũgĩ, and

Awards and honours

*1963: The East Africa Novel Prize *1964: Unesco First Prize for his novel, Weep Not Child, at the First World Festival of Black and African arts at Dakar, Senegal *1973: The Lotus Prize for Literature, at Alma Atta, Khazakhistan *1992 (6 April): The Paul Robeson award for Artistic Excellence, Political Conscience and Integrity, in Philadelphia *1992 (October): honoured by

by being appointed to the Erich Maria Remarque Professorship in Languages to "acknowledge extraordinary scholarly achievement, strong leadership in the University Community and the Profession and significant contribution to our educational mission." *1993: The Zola Neale Hurston-Paul Robeson Award, for artistic and scholarly achievement, awarded by the National Council for Black Studies, in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, Ghana *1994 (October): The Gwendolyn Brooks Center Contributors Award for significant contribution to The Black Literary Arts *1996: The Fonlon-Nichols Prize, New York, for Artistic Excellence and Human Rights *2001: Nonino International Prize for Literature *2002: Zimbabwe International Book Fair, "The Best Twelve African Books of the Twentieth Century." *2002 (July): Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature, UCI. *2002 (October): Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Cabinet Awarded by the International Scientific Committee of the Pio Manzu Centre, Rimini, Italy. *2003 (May): Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. *2003 (December): Honorary Life Membership of the

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is Pan-African research organisation headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. The current President of CODESRIA is Dzodzi Tsikata. Background CODESRIA was established in 1 ...

(CODESRIA), *2004 (23–28 February): Visiting Fellow, Humanities Research Centre. *2006: ''Wizard of the Crow'' is No. 3 on ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine's Top 10 Books of the Year (European edition) *2006: ''Wizard of the Crow'' is one of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

''s Best Books of the Year *2006: ''Wizard of the Crow'' is one of '' Salon.com''s picks for Best Fiction of the year *2006: ''Wizard of the Crow'' is the winner of the Winter 2007 Read This! for Lit-Blog Co-Op; The Literary Saloon *2006: ''Wizard of the Crow'' highlighted in the ''Washington Post’s'' Favorite Books of the year. *2007: ''Wizard of the Crow'' - Finalist on the Long List for the 2007 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. *2007: ''Wizard of the Crow'' - Finalist on the NAACP Image Award for Fiction *2007: ''Wizard of the Crow'' - finalist on the 2007

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

Shortlist for Best Book – Africa. *2007: ''Wizard of the Crow -'' Gold medal winner in Fiction for the 2007 California Book Awards *2007: ''Wizard of the Crow -'' 2007 Aspen Prize for Literature *2007: ''Wizard of the Crow –'' Finalist for the 2007 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Black Literature *2008: ''Wizard of the Crow'' nominated for the 2008 IMPAC Dublin Award *2008 (2 April): Order of the Elder of Burning Spear (Kenya Medal – conferred by Kenya’s Ambassador to the United States in Los Angeles). *2008: (October, 24) Grinzane for Africa Award *2008: Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. *2009: Shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize *2011: (17 February) Africa Channel Literary Achievement Award. *2012: National Book Critics Circle Award (finalist Autobiography) for ''In the House of the Interpreter'' *2012 (31 March): W.E.B. Du Bois Award, National Black Writer’s Conference, New York. *2013 (October): UCI Medal *2014: Elected to

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

*2014: Nicolás Guillén Lifetime Achievement Award for Philosophical Literature *2014 (16 November): Honoured at Archipelago Books' 10th anniversary gala in New York. *2016: Park Kyong-ni Prize *2016 (14 December): Sanaa Theatre Awards/Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of excellence in Kenyan Theatre, Kenya National Theatre. *2017: ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...

''/UCR Creative Writing Lifetime Achievement Award *2018: ''Grand Prix des mécènes'' of the GPLA 2018, for his entire body of work. *2019: Premi Internacional de Catalunya Award for his Courageous work and Advocacy for African languages *2021: Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize for '' The Perfect Nine'' *2021: Elected a

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

International Writer *2022: PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature

Honorary degrees

* Albright College, Doctor of Humane Letters ''honoris causa'', 1994 *

, Honorary doctorate of Letters (LittD), 2004 * Walter Sisulu University (formerly U. Transkei), South Africa, Honorary Degree, Doctor of Literature and Philosophy, July 2004. * California State University, Dominguez Hills, Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, May 2005. * Dillard University, New Orleans, Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, May 2005. *

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, Honorary doctorate of Letters (LittD), 2005 *

, Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, 15 May 2008 * University of Dar es Salaam, Honorary doctorate in Literature, 2013 * University of Bayreuth, Honorary doctorate (Dr. phil. h.c.), 2014 * KCA University, Kenya, Honorary Doctorate degree of Human Letters (honoris causa) in Education, 27 November 2016 *

, Honorary doctorate (D.Litt. h.c.), 2017 *

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

, Honorary doctorate (D.Litt.), 2019 *Honorary PhD, Roskilde, Denmark

Publications

Novels

* ''

'' (1964), * ''

'' (1965), * ''

'' (1967, 1992), * '' Petals of Blood'' (1977), * ''Caitaani Mutharaba-Ini'' ('' Devil on the Cross'', 1980) * '' Matigari ma Njiruungi'', 1986 (''Matigari'', translated into English by

, 1989), * ''Mũrogi wa Kagogo'' (''

'', 2004), * ''The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi'' (2020)

Short story collections

* ''meeting in the Dark'' (1974) * ''Secret Lives, and Other Stories'', (1976, 1992), * ''Minutes of Glory and Other Stories'' (2019)

Plays

* '' The Black Hermit'' (1963) * ''This Time Tomorrow'' (three plays, including the title play, "The Rebels", "The Wound in the Heart" and "This Time Tomorrow") (c. 1970) * ''Homecoming: Essays on African and Caribbean Literature, Culture, and Politics'' (1972), * ''The Trial of Dedan Kimathi'' (1976), , African Publishing Group, (with Micere Githae Mugo and Njaka) * '' Ngaahika Ndeenda: Ithaako ria ngerekano (I Will Marry When I Want)'' (1977, 1982) (with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii)

Memoirs

* ''Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary'' (1981) * ''Dreams in a Time of War: a Childhood Memoir'' (2010), * ''In the House of the Interpreter: A Memoir'' (2012), * ''Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Memoir of a Writer's Awakening'' (2016), * ''Wrestling with the devil: A Prison Memoir'' (2018)

Other nonfiction

* ''Education for a National Culture'' (1981) * ''Barrel of a Pen: Resistance to Repression in Neo-Colonial Kenya'' (1983) * ''Mother, Sing For Me'' (1986) * ''Writing against Neo-Colonialism'' (1986) * '' Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature'' (1986), * ''Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedoms'' (1993), * ''Penpoints, Gunpoints and Dreams: The Performance of Literature and Power in Post-Colonial Africa'' (The Clarendon Lectures in English Literature 1996), Oxford University Press, 1998, * ''Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance'' (2009), Mwangi, Evan
"Queries over Ngugi's appeal to save African languages, culture"
''Daily Nation'', Lifestyle Magazine, 13 June 2009. * ''Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing'' (2012),
Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing on JSTOR
* ''Secure the Base: Making Africa Visible in the Globe'' (2016),

Children's books

* ''Njamba Nene and the Flying Bus'' (translated by Wangui wa Goro) (''Njamba Nene na Mbaathi i Mathagu'', 1986) * ''Njamba Nene and the Cruel Chief'' (translated by Wangui wa Goro) (''Njamba Nene na Chibu King'ang'i'', 1988) * ''Njamba Nene's Pistol'' (''Bathitoora ya Njamba Nene'', 1990), * ''The Upright Revolution, Or Why Humans Walk Upright'', Seagull Press, 2019,

References

External links

* *Leonard Lopate
"Writing in Exile"
12 September 2006. Interview with Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo on The Leonard Lopate Show,

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

, New York public radio, following publication of ''Wizard of the Crow''. *
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o – OverviewThe Language of Scholarship in Africa
2012 lecture by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, published in Leeds ''African Studies Bulletin'' 74 (December 2012), pp. 42–47.
'Publishing Ngũgĩ'
by

James Currey James Currey is a former academic publisher specialising in African Studies which since 2008 has been an imprint of Boydell & Brewer. It is named after its founder who established the company in 1984. It publishes on a full spectrum of topics� ...

, in Leeds ''African Studies Bulletin'' 68 (May 2006), pp. 26–54. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngugi Wa Thiongo 1938 births Living people Kenyan philosophers Alumni of the University of Leeds Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Kenya University of Nairobi academics Kenyan dramatists and playwrights Kenyan essayists Kenyan novelists Kenyan prisoners and detainees Kikuyu people Makerere University alumni People from Kiambu County University of California, Irvine faculty 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century novelists 21st-century dramatists and playwrights 21st-century novelists 20th-century memoirists 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists Kenyan emigrants to the United States 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers Dramatiska Institutet alumni Kikuyu-language writers Kenyan expatriates in Uganda Kenyan expatriates in the United Kingdom