Ngugi wa Thiong'o
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Biography
Originally named James Thiong'o Ngugi, this politically active Kenyan
writer changed his name in renouncement of Christianity because of the
religion's colonial ties. He was born in 1938 and his education was a mix
of Christianity and tradition. His family was involved in the Mau Mau
resistance to the colonists, and this experience features prominently in a
great deal of his writings. In 1963, Ngugi completed the Honors English
program at Makerere University College in Kampala, Uganda. He eventually
became a professor at Nairobi University, having the intention of
promoting interest in African writers. By 1977, he declared his intention
of writing novels in Gikuyu (or Kikuyu), his native language, rather than
in English as he had been doing. This was also the same year that he
was arrested and detained for the following year because of the political
message of his popular play I Will Marry When I
Want. In 1980, he published the first modern
novel written in Gikuyu, Caitaani muthara-Ini (Devil on the Cross).
In 1982, Ngugi left his country to live in self-imposed
exile in London.
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Works
1963, The Black Hermit (play)
1964, Weep Not, Child
1965, The River Between
1967, A Grain of Wheat
1970, This Time Tomorrow (three plays, including the title play, "The
Reels," and "The Wound in the Heart")
1972, Homecoming: Essays on African and Caribbean Literature, Culture, and
Politics
1974, Secret Lives, and Other Stories
1976, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (with Micere Githae Mugo)
1977, I Will Marry When I Want (play; with
Ngugi wa Mirii)
1977, Petals of Blood
1980, Devil on the Cross
1981, Writers in Politics: Essays
1981, Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary
1983, Barrel of a Pen: Resistance to Repression in Neo-Colonial Kenya
1986, Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African
Literature
1986, Mother, Sing For Me
1989, Matigari
1990, Njamba Nene's Pistol (children's book)
1990, Njamba Nene and the Flying Bus (children's book)
1992, Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedom
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Author's Primary Publishers
Heinemann
Division of Reed Publishing, Inc.
361 Hanover Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801
1-800-541-2086
Africa World Press
11 Princess Road
Suites D, E, and F
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
1-800-253-3605
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Similar Authors You Might Enjoy
Chinua
Achebe
A very comprehensive site about this well-known Nigerian author.
Wole
Soyinka
Another Nigerian author who writes plays, poetry, novels and essays.
Joseph
Conrad
A Polish author who wrote about Africa and to whom Ngugi has often been
compared.
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From here you may also go to:
A Grain of Wheat
I Will Marry When I Want
The Little-Known
Literaries Main Page
If you have comments or suggestions about this page, e-mail Patty Rettig at prettig4@lycos.com.
This page was last updated on January 17, 2001.