Kenyan Writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Dies Aged 87
The renowned Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, a perennial contender for the Nobel prize in literature, has passed away at the age of 87. According to his daughter Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, he died on Wednesday morning in Atlanta. The news was announced on Facebook, where Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ wrote: "It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, this Wednesday morning. He lived a full life, fought a good fight."
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was a giant of modern African literature, known for his unflinching exploration of the troubled legacy of colonialism through essays, plays, and novels. His works, which include Weep Not, Child (1964), Devil on the Cross (1980), and Wizard of the Crow (2006), have been widely acclaimed and translated into numerous languages. The Guardian had previously profiled Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, describing him as "a giant of African literature".
Born in 1938, while Kenya was under British colonial rule, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was one of 28 children, born to a father with four wives. He lived through the Mau Mau uprising as a teenager, during which the authorities imprisoned, abused, and tortured tens of thousands of people. This struggle formed the backdrop to his debut novel Weep Not, Child, which tells the story of the education of Njoroge, the first of his family to go to school, and how his life is thrown into turmoil by the events surrounding him. The Guardian noted that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s experiences during this time had a profound impact on his writing.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s writing career spanned over six decades, during which he became a lecturer in English literature at Nairobi University. He argued that the English department should be renamed and shift its focus to literature around the world. "If there is need for a ‘study of the historic continuity of a single culture’, why can’t this be African?" he wrote in a paper. "Why can’t African literature be at the centre so that we can view other cultures in relationship to it?" The Guardian reported that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s advocacy for African literature led to his arrest and imprisonment in 1977.
The author’s decision to write in Gikuyu, his native language, was a defining moment in his career. In an interview with the Guardian in 2006, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o explained: "In prison I began to think in a more systematic way about language. Why was I not detained before, when I wrote in English? He decided from then on to write in Gikuyu, that "the only language I could use was my own"." This decision led to the creation of works such as I Will Marry When I Want, a play co-authored with Ngugi wa Mirii, which led to his arrest and imprisonment.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s contributions to literature have been widely recognised. He was nominated for the international Booker prize in 2021 for his epic novel-in-verse The Perfect Nine, and was the prize’s first nominee writing in an indigenous African language and the first author to be nominated for their own translation. The Guardian quoted Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o as saying: "Resistance is the best way of keeping alive. It can take even the smallest form of saying no to injustice. If you really think you’re right, you stick to your beliefs, and they help you to survive."
The author is survived by his nine children, four of whom are authors: Tee Ngũgĩ, Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Nducu wa Ngũgĩ, and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1995 and underwent triple heart bypass surgery in 2019. His legacy as a writer and advocate for African literature will continue to inspire generations of writers and scholars.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/may/28/ngugi-wa-thiongo-kenyan-writer-dies
