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Ngũgĩ wa Thiongio will succeed Vinton Cerf, known for being one of the fathers of the Internet. Cerf was the first technologist to receive the prize, with other awarded figures including the philosopher Karl Popper, oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, politician Václav Havel, writer Doris Lessing, and activist Malala Yousafzai. The prize will be awarded to the Kenyan author during the first quarter of 2020 at a ceremony chaired by Catalan president Quim Torra.

Kenyan writer and activist Ngugi wa Thiong’o wins Catalonia International Prize

December 31, 2019 admin2Africa, Ngugi, Writer0 comment

The Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has been awarded the 31st Catalonia International Prize given by the Catalan government, “for his distinguished and courageous literary work and his defense of African languages, based on the notion of language as culture and collective memory.” “Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is one of the most prolific and renowned African writers,” reads the jury’s communiqué. “In all the genres he cultivates – novels, essays, memoirs, theatre – he combines the most profound African traditions with a sensitive yet merciless description of the social…

Tributes

Tribute: Thiong’o is one of Africa’s foremost writers

October 19, 2014October 29, 2014 adminKenyan Writer, Ngugi

By Emilia Ilieva The Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of Africa’s foremost writers, thinkers and commentators; a progressive and socially engaged intellectual. His works stand out for their unequivocal criticism of colonialism, the subjugation of African cultures by the imperially-minded West, and the oppression of the African masses by the ruling neocolonialist elite. Ngugi attended Makerere University College, Uganda, and Leeds University, UK. In 1967, he was appointed Special Lecturer in English at the University of Nairobi. He resigned his position in 1969 in protest against government interference…