Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is one of the leading writers and scholars at work in the world today. His books include the novels Petals of Blood, for which he was imprisoned by the Kenyan government in 1977, A Grain of Wheat and Wizard of the Crow; the memoirs, Dreams in a Time of War and In the House of the Interpreter; and the essays, Decolonizing the Mind, Something Torn and New and Globalectics. Recipient of many honours, among them 10 honorary doctorates, he is currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.