It is with deep sadness and a sense of shock that we are processing the passing of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. He was appointed at UCI in 2001 as a Distinguished Professor and as Inaugural Director of the International Center for Writing and Translation, and he has been an esteemed and much-loved colleague in our department ever since.
Ngugi was one of the most important contemporary African writers, critical theorists and public intellectuals who has dedicated his life and work to the struggle to decolonize the mind. Spanning across six decades, Ngugi’s novels, plays and essays include Weep Not Child, The River Between, A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood, Devil on the Cross, I will marry when I want, Detained: A Writer’s Prison Diary, Decolonizing the Mind, Penpoints, Gunpoints and Dreams, The Upright Revolution, and many others. He has given many distinguished lectures, including the 2003 Steve Biko Memorial Lecture in South Africa. In 2002 Ngugi was elected an Honorary Member in the American Academy of Arts and Letters. We at UC-Irvine were privileged to have Ngugi as a distinguished colleague and as the Director of our International Center for Writing and Translation. Ever since the inaugural event of the International Center for Writing and Translation in January of 2001, the ICWT and Ngugi’s presence had changed the life and spirit of the Humanities and our campus more generally. Ngugi brought to UCI an astounding diversity of voices and writers from all over the world, a visible presence of indigenous people, and a continual engagement with people who came together in their commitment toward a decolonization of today’s world. To use the title of one of his books, Ngugi has truly been “moving the center” of UCI. Within just a few years he had created a veritable intellectual and literary community, including people from all over campus and from the larger community. He had become a model for all of us and perhaps one of the most invaluable gifts he had brought us was the gift of joy. The events at the ICWT dealt with some of the hardest problems of our world, including continued racism, discrimination, environmental destruction, violation of human and civil rights, and the global attack on indigenous cultures and languages around the world. Yet, the spirit at the ICWT is one of joy, resilience and survival energy. Looking at today’s world, his work and his thoughts are needed more than ever.
Tragically, in 2004, the completion of his monumental novel, Wizard of the Crow, was overshadowed by the brutal attacks on Ngugi and his wife Njeeri when they returned to their home country Kenya, after 22 years of political exile. It took Ngugi’s unparalleled courage, resilience and indestructibly positive spirit of survival to complete the book under these conditions. The book-launch of the Kikuyu version of the Wizard of the Crow coincided with the trial against the perpetrator who spearheaded the attacks, and it also coincided with new threats against Ngugi’s life. When Ngugi had originally returned to Kenya after 22 years of exile, he was widely celebrated by his people. He spoke and read to large audiences, including the people from his own village. Orchestrated by his adversaries, the brutal attack was supposed to once again silence him. Yet, he persevered, broke the silence and continued to work against worldwide oppression up to his last day. In Ngugi’s first address to the press he said: “My voice is not back yet, but the spirit is strong. We should not let people who do not like what we are doing kill the spirit. This is my country for better or for worse. It is upon me and everybody else to make it a better place.” How incredibly clear do these words resonate with today’s world? Ngugi’s work is part of his arduous task of making a better place, not only of his home country and the US where he lives today, but also the world at large.
His writings are about mind and mirrors, power and poverty, colonization and creative resistance, song and sadness, loss and love. “We need mirrors to see our shadows. We need mirrors to see other people’s shadows cross ours,” (116) says the Wizard of the Crow. In the past years, Ngugi began working on a new book titled Normal Abnormality. We are deeply saddened that he was not able to complete this work.
Apart from moving the intellectual center of our department and the School, Ngugi was also an exemplary colleague, supporting all of us in unique ways. And he was a dedicated teacher to many graduate and undergraduate students. Three of them visited him the very weekend before he passed away. We will miss him as a beloved colleague, not only because of his contributions to our departmental discussions, but also because of his sense of humor and laughter. We will miss him and all the invaluable gifts he has offered us over the years.
Gabriele Schwab
Distinguished Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature
Image of Ngugi wa Thiong'o c. March 13, 2024, courtesy of Heran Li, Comparative Literature major