African Literary Icon Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Dies at 87

(The Post News)– Africa and the literary world are mourning the loss of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the Kenyan novelist, scholar and activist whose work reshaped the cultural and political discourse around language and identity. The family confirmed that he died on Tuesday, aged 87, in Atlanta, United States.

His daughter, Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, honoured him in a Facebook post, noting that her father had a long life and fought valiantly, and his life and work should be celebrated as per his final request. She further wrote, “Rîa ratha na rîa thŭa. Tŭrî aira!” —A Gikuyu phrase that can be interpreted as “With joy and sorrow. We’re proud.”

Ngũgĩ leaves behind a powerful literary and political legacy rooted in anti-colonial resistance. His debut novel, Weep Not, Child (1964), was the first English-language novel to be published by an East African author. Written just a year after Kenya gained independence, the novel draws deeply from the lived experiences of Kenyans during the British colonial era—particularly during the brutal Mau Mau uprising.

Over the decades, Ngũgĩ authored a vast body of work, including A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood, Devil on the Cross, and the epic Wizard of the Crow. His 1986 essay collection, Decolonising the Mind, remains a foundational text in postcolonial studies, arguing for the importance of writing in indigenous languages to resist cultural imperialism.

This ideological shift followed his imprisonment in 1977 after co-authoring the Gikuyu-language play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), which criticized corruption and inequality in post-independence Kenya. During his time in prison, he resolved to abandon writing in English and committed fully to Gikuyu as a political and cultural act. His next novel, Devil on the Cross, was written on toilet paper while incarcerated.

Ngũgĩ held academic positions at several prestigious institutions, including Yale University, New York University, and most notably the University of California, Irvine, where he was Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature. Through his teaching, public lectures, and continued literary production, he inspired generations of African writers, thinkers, and activists.

Writers and scholars across the African continent and the diaspora have been pouring in their tributes. Scholar and Africa Is a Country founder Sean Jacobs described him as “a G.O.A.T. of African literature—or simply literature, period.” Nigerian novelist Okey Ndibe added, “I join millions of his fans in mourning the inimitable Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. He has gone home today, but his work as a writer and human will endure.”

Beyond his work, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has married and divorced twice. He was the father of nine children, four of whom went on to become published authors. Despite bravely fighting prostate cancer in 1995, his health declined in later years, marked by three heart bypass surgeries in 2019 and struggles with kidney failure.

He lived a full and resilient life—one marked not only by literary brilliance but also by an unyielding fighting spirit.