Ngugi wa Thiong’o

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan writer and academic who's often mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature. He writes primarily in Gikuyu. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His popular Weep Not, Child (1964) was the first major novel in English by an East African. His other novels include Weep Not, Child; Petals of Blood; and Wizard of the Crow. When he was imprisoned in 1978, he wrote Devil on the Cross on prison-issued toilet paper. His nonfiction books include the landmark essay collection Decolonizing the Mind. He's currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.