Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

The Epic of Gikuyu and Mumbi

The Perfect Nine

Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo

The baffling murders of three African directors of a foreign-owned brewery are set against the backdrop of the intertwined stories of the four suspects in the crime, in a novel, first published in 1977, about the struggles of a modern Third World nation. Reprint.

Petals of Blood

The second volume of memoirs from the renowned Kenyan novelist, poet and playwright covers his high school years at the end of British colonial rule in Africa, during the Mau Mau Uprising. 15,000 first printing.

A Memoir

In the House of the Interpreter

To honour the Ruler's birthday, the Free Republic of Aburiria set out to build a tower; a modern wonder of the world that will reach the gates of Heaven. But behind this pillar of unity a battle for control of the Aburirian people rages. Among the contenders- the eponymous Wizard, an avatar of folklore and wisdom; the corrupt Christian Ministry; and the nefarious Global Bank. Informed by traditional African storytelling, Wizard of the Crowis widely considered Ngugi wa Thiong'o's masterpiece.

Wizard of the Crow

Ngugi wa Thiong'o's powerful prison memoir begins half an hour before his release on 12 December 1978. A year earlier, he recalls, armed police arrived at his home and took him to Kenya's Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. There, Ngugi lives in a block alongside other political prisoners, but he refuses to give in to the humiliation. He decides to write a novel in secret, on toilet paper - it is a book that will become his classic, Devil on the Cross. Wrestling with the Devilis Ngugi's unforgettable account of the drama and challenges of living under twenty-four-hour surveillance. He captures not only the pain caused by his isolation from his family, but also the spirit of defiance and the imaginative endeavours that allowed him to survive.

A Prison Memoir

Wrestling with the Devil

Bir Bugday Tanesi

From one of the world's greatest writers, the story of how the author found his voice as a novelist at Makerere University in Uganda as a student In this acclaimed memoir, Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o recounts the four years he spent at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda--crucial years during which he found his voice as a journalist, short story writer, playwright, and novelist just as colonial empires were crumbling and new nations were being born--under the shadow of the rivalries, intrigues, and assassinations of the Cold War. Haunted by the memories of the carnage and mass incarceration carried out by the British colonial-settler state in his native Kenya but inspired by the titanic struggle against it, Ngũgĩ, then known as James Ngugi, begins to weave stories from the fibers of memory, history, and a shockingly vibrant and turbulent present. What unfolds in this moving and thought-provoking memoir is simultaneously the birth of one of the most important living writers--lauded for his "epic imagination" (Los Angeles Times)--the death of one of the most violent episodes in global history, and the emergence of new histories and nations with uncertain futures.

A Writer's Awakening

Birth of a Dream Weaver

Självbiografisk barndomsskildring om krig och kolonialism »En skimrande memoarbok. Ngugi wa Thiong'os kritik blir än skarpare genom den friska iakttagelse som präglar de gripande och inkännande minnesbilderna.« Magnus Eriksson, Svenska Dagbladet Han är osäker på vilket barn i ordningen han är, möjligen faderns tjugofjärde. Men han är sin mors femte, det vet han. En dag berättar hon att hans stora dröm går i uppfyllelse - han ska få börja i skolan. Men han måste lova henne en sak: att alltid göra sitt bästa. Pakten med modern tar den unge pojken från byn Limuru och ut i den stora världen. Men 1940-talet är en våldsam tid. Den brittiska kolonialmaktens grepp om Kenya hårdnar och Mau-Mau-gerillan intensifierar kampen för nationell självständighet. Men för skolpojken handlar det också om att ha råd med ett par skor, vilket är villkoret för släppas in på gymnasiet. Och såväl kriget som behovet av fotbeklädnad når långt in i den fattiga familjen där hemma. I denna självbiografiska barndomsskildring från 2010 berättar den världsberömda författaren om en uppväxt under krig och kolonialism erfarenheter som gör att han på 1970-talet börjar skriva på sin hembys språk och byter namn till - Ngugi wa Thiong’o. NGUGI WA THIONG'O [f. 1938] är en kenyansk författare och dramatiker. Sina första romaner skrev han på engelska under namnet James Ngugi. Senare återtog han sitt födelsenamn och började på olika sätt ta ställning för de afrikanska minoritetsspråken. Han skriver sedan länge på hemspråket gikuyu och översätter själv sina böcker till engelska.

Drömmar i krigets skugga

For more than sixty years, Ngugi wa Thiong'o has been writing fearlessly the questions, challenges, histories, and futures of Africans, particularly those of his homeland, Kenya. In his work, which has included plays, novels, and essays, Ngugi narrates the injustice of colonial violence and the dictatorial betrayal of decolonization, the fight for freedom and subsequent incarceration, and the aspiration toward economic equality in the face of gross inequality. With both hope and disappointment, he questions the role of language in both the organization of power structures and the pursuit of autonomy and self-expression. Ngugi's fiction has reached wide acclaim, but his nonfictional work, while equally brilliant, is difficult to find. Secure the Base changes this by bringing together for the first time essays spanning nearly three decades. Originating as disparate lectures and texts, this complete volume will remind readers anew of Ngugi's power and importance. Written in a personal and accessible style, the book covers a range of issues, including the role of the intellectual, the place of Asia in Africa, labor and political struggles in an era of rampant capitalism, and the legacies of slavery and prospects for peace. At a time when Africa looms large in our discussions of globalization, Secure the Base is mandatory reading.

Making Africa Visible in the Globe

Secure the Base

After decades of British rule Kenya has declared its independence, but drought and poor harvests still govern the village of Ilmorog. Undeterred, Munira, Karega, Wanja and Abdulla each move to Ilmorog in search of a more provincial life, only to find themselves suspects in a crime that signals a dark turning of the times. A classic of modern African literature, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's damning satire of politics and corruption in Kenya would prove the catalyst for his imprisonment by the Kenyan government.

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A Grain of Wheat

»Ngugi wa Thiong'o bär upp alla de dilemman en samtida afrikansk författare konfronterar i form av - ibland oförsonliga - politiska och språkliga strömningar.« John Updike, The New Yorker När Kenya blir självständigt 1963 kommer inte den förändring som befolkningen hoppas på. Många av den nya tidens makthavare offrar idealen för personlig vinning, och när tre industripampar dör i en mordbrand blir efterspelet ett slags genomlysning av landets alla drömmar och besvikelser. Fyra misstänkta sitter häktade: läraren Munira, bordellmadamen Wanja, före detta frihetskämpen Abdulla och fackföreningsmannen Karega. De har alla motiv till hämnd, och deras livsberättelser bildar en mäktig fresk över brott och straff i Kenyas historia. Politiska misslyckanden och personliga nederlag griper in i varandra. Det personliga ansvaret bryts mot svek och ovillkorliga historiska processer. En blomma av blod från 1977 betraktas som en av de viktigaste romaner som skrivits på den afrikanska kontinenten. NGUGI WA THIONG'O [f. 1938] är en kenyansk författare och dramatiker. Hans första romaner skrevs under namnet James Ngugi. Senare skulle han återta sitt födelsenamn och med sitt författarskap på olika sätt ta ställning för de afrikanska minoritetsspråken. Han skriver sedan länge på hemspråket gikuyu och översätter själv sina böcker till engelska.

En blomma av blod

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is renowned for his political novels and plays, yet he honed his craft as a short story writer. First published in 1975, Secret Lives and Other Stories brings together a range of Ngugi's political short stories. From tales of the meeting between magic and superstition, to stories about the modernising forces of colonialism, and the pervasive threat of nature, this collection celebrates the storytelling might of one of Africa's best-loved writers.

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

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