Ngugi wa Thiong'o is regarded as one of Africa’s greatest living writers. He grew up in what became known as Kenya’s White Highlands at the height of British colonialism. Unsurprisingly, his writing examines the legacy of colonialism and the intricate relationships between locals seeking economic and cultural emancipation and the local elites serving as agents of neo-colonizers. “As a literary icon, Mwalimu Ngugi’s writings have provoked critical questions about neo-colonialism. He has forced us to see, or at least debate, a national and indeed a continental failure to decolonize minds. Words from the barrel of Ngugi’s often-acerbic pen have inspired millions to continue wrestling post-independence ills that crush young dreams. Ngugi is an academic who has graced the corridors of several colleges [...] he has received over a dozen honorary degrees from institutions across the globe. He continues to engage, write, and teach as opportunity allows.” The great expectations for the new country, as captured in Ngugi’s seminal play, The Black Hermit, anticipated the disillusionment that followed. His fiction, from the foundational trilogy of Weep Not, Child, The River Between and A Grain of Wheat, amplify those expectations, before the optimism gives way in Petals of Blood, and is replaced by disillusionment. More about Ngugi Wa Thiong’o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C5%A9g%C4%A9_wa_Thiong%27o University of California in Irvine https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=4914 Yale University https://english.yale.edu/diversity/ngugi-wa-thiongo International Booker prize Congratulations to Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who has become the first writer to be nominated for the International Booker prize as both author & translator of the same book, & the first nominee writing in an indigenous African language for his novel "The Perfect Nine." Catalonia International Prize Ngugi wa Thiong’o was awarded the 31st Catalonia International Prize for his “distinguished and courageous” literary work and for his defense of African languages. In a ceremony held on 3 September and chaired by Quim Torra, (former) president of the Catalan Government, wa Thiong’o has received the award and paid tribute to not only Kikuyu (his mother tongue, in which he has been writing since the eighties after abandoning English), but also Catalan and all the minority languages in the world. Other awards Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, by Albright College, 1994 Honorary Doctor, Roskilde University, Denmark, 1997 Doctor of Letters honoris causa by the University of Leeds, 2004 Honorary Doctor of Literature and Philosophy, Walter Sisulu University, 2004 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Dillard University, 2005 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2005 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature, University of Auckland, 2005 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, New York University, 2008 Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, University of Dar es Salaam, 2013 Honorary Degree, University of Bayreuth, 2014 Honorary Doctorate degree of Human Letters (honoris causa) in Education, KCA University, Kenya, 2016; Honorary Degree, Honorary Doctor of Letters, Yale University, 2017 Honorary Doctor of Letters, Edinburgh University, 2019   Missed so far: Nobel Prize for Literature https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/oct/08/ngugi-wa-thiong-o-nobel-prize-literature