Ngugi wa Thiong'o (formerly James Ngugi and known generally as Ngugi) was born in Limuru, Kenya on January 5, 1938. Educated initially in a missionary school and then in a Gikuyu independent school during the Mau Mau insurgency, he went on to attend Alliance High School in 1955-1959 and Makerere University College in Kampala, Uganda in 1959-1964. After earning a B.A. in English, he worked as a journalist for the Daily Nation in Nairobi for many years before leaving to continue his studies in literature at the University of Leeds in England. He returned to Kenya in 1967 and taught in the English department at Nairobi University College until January 1969, when he resigned in protest during a student strike. He taught African literature at Northwestern University in Illinois from 1970 to 1971, then resumed teaching at Nairobi University College, where he was soon appointed acting head of the English Department. His work Matigari has been translated by Ethale.
