Table Of Contentmemoir/literature $25.95 u.s.
PRaisE foR BiRth of a DREaM wEaVER
B
BiRth
“[The author] focuses on his four pivotal years as an undergraduate at iR “Ngũgĩ is one of Africa’s greatest writers,
Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where he wrote articles, t of a
and certainly the foremost voice
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composed plays, and discovered his voice as a novelist. Outside the
DREaM of Kenyan literature.”
university’s confines was a continent in flux; Thiong’o entered Makerere o
in 1959 as a colonial subject, and left in 1964 as a citizen of independent f —San Francisco Chronicle
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Kenya. He vividly describes how the colonial regime’s atrocities haunted
wEaVER
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him and shaped his sensibilities. . . . Evocative, poignant, and thoughtful,
R
BiRth of a DREaM wEaVER
Thiong’o’s courageous narrative will linger in readers’ minds.”
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onE of thE lEaDing afRican wRitERs anD scholaRs —Publishers Weekly (starred review) a
M charts the very beginnings of a writer’s creative out-
at work today, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was born in A Writers Awakening
’ put. In this stirring memoir of awakening, Ngũgĩ wa
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Limuru, Kenya, in 1938. He is the author of A Grain PRaisE foR DREaMs in a tiME of waR
Thiong’o recounts the four years he spent in Mak-
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of Wheat; Weep Not, Child; and Petals of Blood. He
“Eye-opening. . . . The work Ngũgĩ offers us here a erere University in Kampala, Uganda: threshold
is currently Distinguished Professor of English and V
is like nothing that’s gone before.” years where he found his voice as a journalist, short
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Comparative Literature at the University of Califor-
—Marie Arana, The Washington Post R story writer, playwright, and novelist, just as colonial
nia, Irvine. The recipient of ten honorary doctorates,
empires were crumbling and new nations were being
he has earned numerous awards for his work, includ- “Startling, vivid. . . . Inspiring. . . . Whether recalling joyful or challenging
born—under the shadow of the rivalries, intrigues,
ing the California Book Award gold medal for his times, Ngũgĩ displays a plainspoken yet beautiful prose style.”
and assassinations of the Cold War.
novel Wizard of the Crow. He has been nominated —The Christian Science Monitor
n Haunted by the memories of the carnage and mass
for the Man Booker International Prize. g incarceration carried out by the British colonial-
PRaisE foR wizaRD of thE cRow u˜
settler state in his native Kenya but inspired by the
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“In his crowded and eventful life, Ngũgĩ has enacted, i titanic struggle against it, Ngũgĩ, then known as
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for all to see, the paradigmatic trials and quandaries of a James Ngugi, begins to weave stories from the fibers
a
contemporary African writer caught in sometimes implacable of memory, history, and a shockingly vibrant and tur-
t
political, social, racial, and linguistic currents.” bulent present.
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—John Updike, The New Yorker i What unfolds in this moving and thought-
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n provoking memoir is both the birth of one of the
g
most important living writers—lauded for his “epic
’
o
imagination” (Los Angeles Times)—and the death of
THE NEW PRESS one of the most violent episodes in global history, as
˜ ˜
www.thenewpress.com ngugi wa thiong’o well as the emergence of new histories and nations
with uncertain futures.
Jacket illustration by Emmanuel Polanco
Author photograph by Daniel Anderson, University of
California, Irvine, Communications Department THE NEW PRESS
Birth of a Dream Weaver_jacket_rev.indd 1 07/20/2016 5:47 PM
Birth of a Dream Weaver
Also by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir
In the House of the Interpreter: A Memoir
Weep Not, Child
The River Between
A Grain of Wheat
Petals of Blood
Devil on the Cross
Matigari
Wizard of the Crow
Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in
African Literature
Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance
In the Name of the Mother
Globalectics: Theory and the Politics of Knowing
Secure the Base: Making Africa Visible in the Globe
Birth of a
Dream Weaver
a w r i t er’s awa k en i n g
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
THE NEW PRESS
NEW YORK
LONDON
©2016 by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form, without written permission
from the publisher.
Requests for permission to reproduce selections from this book should be mailed to:
Permissions Department, The New Press, 120 Wall Street, 31st floor, New York, NY
10005.
Published in the United States by The New Press, New York, 2016
Distributed by Perseus Distribution
ISBN 978-1-62097-240-3 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-62097-267-0 (e-book)
CIP data is available.
The New Press publishes books that promote and enrich public discussion and
understanding of the issues vital to our democracy and to a more equitable world.
These books are made possible by the enthusiasm of our readers; the support of a
committed group of donors, large and small; the collaboration of our many partners
in the independent media and the not-for- profit sector; booksellers, who often hand-
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www .thenewpress .com
Book design and Composition by Bookbright Media
This book was set in Minion Pro and Adobe Caslon
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of Minneh Nyambura, now reborn in her
grandchildren of the same name: Nyambura wa Mũkoma,
Nyambura Sade Sallinen, and Nyambura wa Ndũcũ. Her
spirit also lives on in her other grandchildren: June Wanjikũ,
Chris Ng’ang’a, and Ngũgĩ Biko Kimunga.
Contents
Note on Nomenclature . ix
Prologue . xi
1. The Wound in the Heart . 1
2. A Wounded Land . 7
3. Reds and Blacks . 17
4. Benzes, Sneakers, Frisbees, and Flags . 53
5. Penpoints and Fig Trees . 75
6. Writing for the Money of It . 83
7. Black Dolls and Black Masks . 103
8. Transition and That Letter from Paris . 123
9. Boxers and Black Hermits . 141
10. Pages, Stages, Spaces . 163
11. Coal, Rubber, Silver, Gold, and New Flags . 179
12. Working for the Nation . 193
13. Notes and Notebooks . 213
14. A Hell of a Paradise . 221
Acknowledgments . 227
Notes . 229
Photograph Sources . 237
Note on Nomenclature
In this memoir the armed resistance the British dubbed Mau
Mau is called by its rightful name, Land and Freedom Army
(LFA). Their fighters will be called soldiers.
