Pius Nsabe
Renowned Kenyan author and literary icon Ngugi wa Thiong’o has died at the age of 87 in the United States, his family has confirmed.
Ngugi, celebrated globally as East Africa’s leading novelist, passed away on Wednesday morning in the US after a long illness, according to his daughter Wanjiku wa Ngugi.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o this Wednesday morning, 28th May 2025. He lived a full life, fought a good fight. As was his last wish, let’s celebrate his life and his work. Rîa ratha na rîa thŭa. Tŭrî aira!”, she wrote on Facebook.
She said the family’s spokesperson, Nducu wa Ngugi, will announce details of his celebration of life in the coming days.
Born on 5 January 1938 as James Ngugi, Ngugi wa Thiong’o was a trailblazing author, playwright, essayist and academic whose influence on African literature and political thought is immeasurable.
He began his career writing in English but later embraced his native Gikuyu language, becoming a pioneering advocate for linguistic decolonisation in African literature.
He was the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri, and his short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright has been translated into over 100 languages.
In 1977, his radical approach to community theatre, exemplified by the play Ngaahika Ndeenda (co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mĩriĩ), was met with state repression. The Kenyan regime shut down the play and imprisoned him for over a year. During that time, he wrote his novel Devil on the Cross on toilet paper. Recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, Ngũgĩ went into exile upon his release.
His academic journey saw him teach at prestigious institutions including Northwestern University, Yale, New York University, and ultimately serve as Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine.
Ngugi was frequently mentioned as a frontrunner for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and among his many accolades are the 2001 International Nonino Prize and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize.
He leaves behind a towering literary legacy and a family of writers, including Mukoma wa Ngugi and Wanjiku wa Ngugi.
