By A Correspondent – Celebrated Kenyan author and academic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has died at the age of 87.

Regarded as a titan of African literature, Ngũgĩ’s career spanned over six decades. He chronicled Kenya’s journey from colonial rule to independence, using his pen to challenge both colonial and post-colonial regimes. His fearless commitment to writing in African languages—especially Kikuyu—cemented his legacy as a literary revolutionary.

Born James Thiong’o Ngũgĩ in 1938 in colonial Kenya, Ngũgĩ’s early life was shaped by the brutality of British repression during the Mau Mau uprising. His brother was shot by colonial soldiers, and his village was razed. These experiences heavily influenced his early works.

Ngũgĩ’s literary journey took off after he shared the manuscript of his first novel Weep Not, Child with Chinua Achebe at Makerere University. The novel, published in 1964, was the first major English-language novel by an East African writer. He soon published The River Between, A Grain of Wheat, and Petals of Blood—the last of which criticized Kenya’s new elite.

In 1977, Ngũgĩ abandoned English for Kikuyu and was imprisoned for co-writing a politically charged play. He famously wrote his first Kikuyu novel, Devil on the Cross, on toilet paper while jailed.

Exiled for over two decades, he taught at leading universities in the US, including Yale and UC Irvine. Despite enduring jail, exile, cancer, and a brutal home invasion, Ngũgĩ remained an outspoken champion of decolonising African literature.

His seminal work Decolonising the Mind challenged African writers to abandon colonial languages. He had nine children, including author Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ.

Though tipped for the Nobel Prize many times, he never won. Still, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o leaves behind a legacy that reshaped African storytelling forever.

— Source: BBC