Charity Waciuma

Charity Waciuma (born 1936) is a Kenyan writer, who wrote several novels for adolescents and an autobiographical novel, Daughter of Mumbi (1969). Her work draws on Kikuyu legends and storytelling traditions.^[1]

Biography

Charity Waciuma grew up in pre-Independence Kenya, during the violent anti-colonial struggle between the Mau-Mau and British rulers. Her autobiographical book Daughter of Mumbi tells of the tensions felt by an adolescent who is torn between her allegiance to traditional identities (Mumbi was the mythical female founder of the Kikuyu) and a father who sees his support for British colonial rule as an allegiance to modernity.^[2][3] The book is dedicated to her father, who was killed during the Mau Mau Emergency.^[4]

Works

• Mweru, the Ostrich Girl (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1966)
• The Golden Feather (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1966)
• Daughter of Mumbi (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1969)
• Merry-Making (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1972)
• Who's Calling? (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1973)

References

1. Margaret Busby, Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent (1992), London, Viking, 1993, p. 377.
2. Jacqueline Bardolph, "Waciuma, Charity", in Lorna Sage, ed., The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English, Cambridge University Press, 1999
3. "An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
4. "Book Review: Daughter of Mumbi by Charity Wanjiku Waciuma", The Woyingi Blog, 8 September 2010.