| Back Ngugi wa Thiong'o was born in Kenya in 1938 into a large peasant family. As an adolescent, he lived through the Mau Mau war of Independence, the central historical episode in the making of modern Kenya and a major theme in his early works. Ngugi burst onto the literary scene in East Africa with the performance of his first major play, The Black Hermit, at the National Theatre in Kampala, Uganda, in 1962. In a highly productive literary period, Ngugi published and wrote stories, plays, novels, and a Sunday newspaper column. In that period, his novel, Weep Not Child, was published to critical acclaim in 1964. This publication was followed by The River Between and A Grain of Wheat, a turning point in the formal and ideological direction of his works. In 1967, Ngugi became lecturer in English Literature at the University of Nairobi, eventually becoming Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Literature. He taught there until 1977 while also serving as Fellow in Creative writing at Makerere in 1969-1970, and as Visiting Associate Professor at Northwestern University in 1970-1971. In 1969, his first volume of literary essays, Homecoming, appeared in print. 1977 forced dramatic turns in Ngugi's life and career. His first novel in ten years, Petals of Blood, was published in July of that year. The novel painted a harsh and unsparing picture of life in neo-colonial Kenya. It was received with even more emphatic critical acclaim in Kenya and abroad. That year Ngugi's controversial play, Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), written with Ngugi wa Mirii, was performed in an open air theatre in Limuru, with actors from the workers and peasants of the area. Sharply critical of the inequalities and injustices of Kenyan society, publicly identified with unequivocally championing the cause of ordinary Kenyans, and committed to communicating with them in the languages of their daily lives, Ngugi was arrested and imprisoned without charge in a maximum security prison at the end of the year. In prison, Ngugi wrote the novel Caitaani Mutharabaini, later translated in English as Devil on the Cross. He also wrote down notes that later became the basis of his memoir, Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary. After Amnesty International named him a Prisoner of Conscience, an international campaign secured his release a year later. He was barred by the State from jobs at colleges and university in the country. He resumed his writing, however, and activities in the theater. More works followed; Ngugi continued to be an uncomfortable voice for the government. In 1982, while Ngugi was in Britain for the launching of Devil on the Cross, he learned about plans of his arrest and imprisonment or worse. He stayed on in Britain, in exile, during the 1980's and moved to the U.S. in 1989. His next Gikuyu novel, Matigari, was published in 1986 and its contents prompted the Kenyan government to feel that the novel's main character was a real living person. As a result, an arrest warrant was issued for the main character, Matigari, but, finding he was a fictional character in a book, the government "arrested" the novel; between 1986 and 1996, the book could not be sold in Kenyan bookshops. Ngugi has continued to write prolifically and to speak around the world at numerous universities and as a distinguished speaker. These appearances include: the 1984 Robb Lectures at Auckland University, New Zealand; the 1996 Clarendon Lecture at Oxford University; and the 1999 Ashby Lecture at Cambridge. He has spoken in many different countries and held visiting appointments at varied universities including Temple, Amherst, Smith, and Yale. He is the recipient, recently, of the 2001 Nonino Prize. Ngugi's books have been translated into more than thirty languages and they continue to be the subject of books, critical monographs, and dissertations. Since his appointment at UC Irvine, Ngugi has been awarded the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Cabinet; this was given in Rimini, Italy, by the International Scientific Committee of the Pio Manzu International Research Centre in Italy. The Centre, a non-governmental organization of the United Nations and UNIDO, has been operating since 1969 as an institute for the in-depth study of the main economic and scientific aspects of the relationship between man and his environment. In addition, he delivered the Fourth Memorial Steve Biko Lecture in South Africa in September 2003; he has also been recently inducted as a foreign honorary member at the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In December 2003, he was given honorary life membership in the Council for the Development of Social Sciences Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and was inducted in Dakar, Senegal. Recent distinctions include an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, University of Leeds, and an honorary doctorate in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Transkei. Ngugi returned to Kenya this past summer. On August 26, 2004, the first part of his latest book - written in Gikuyu - was launched. Murogi wa Kagogo is a thought-provoking satirical novel that gives a surgical examination of the cult of dictatorship in Africa and the rest of the world. Narrated in Six Volumes, the story of Murogi wa Kagogo is set in an imaginary country called Aburiria, which is under the leadership of His Excellency President the Second. The English version of the novel is expected to be released next year. 10/6/04
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