Meja Mwangi

Meja Mwangi

Meja Mwangi (born 27 December 1948)^[1] is one of Kenya's leading novelists. Mwangi has worked in the film industry, including screenwriting, assistant directing, casting and location management.

Biography

He was born David Dominic Mwangi^[1] in Nanyuki, and was educated at Nanyuki Secondary School, Kenyatta College and the University of Leeds. He then worked on odd-jobs for foreign broadcasters before he turned to full-time writing. He was Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa (1975-6).

Prizes and awards

• Jomo Kenyatta Prize, for Kill Me Quick (1974)
• Jomo Kenyatta Prize, for Going Down River Road (1977)
• Lotus Award (Afro-Asian Writers' Association) (1978)
• Noma Award (honourable mention), for Bread of Sorrow (1989)
• Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Prize), for Little White Man (1992)
• Le Prix Lire au College, for Kariuki (1992)
• Jomo Kenyatta Prize for The Last Plague (2001)
• National Book Week Award (Kenya) for The Last Plague
• Nominated for International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, for The Last Plague (2002)
• Society of School Librarians International Honor Book Award (USA), for The Mzungu Boy (2005)
• American Library Association National Book for Children Award, for The Mzungu Boy (2006)
• Children's Africana Book Award (best book for older readers), for The Mzungu Boy (2006)
• Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature, Adult Fiction third place, Big Chief (2009)

Literary works

• Kill Me Quick (1973) ISBN 0-435-90143-5
• Going Down River Road (1976) ISBN 0-435-90176-1
• The Cockroach Dance (1979) ISBN 0-582-64276-0
• Carcase for Hounds (1974) ISBN 0-435-90145-1
• Taste of Death (1975)
• The Bushtrackers (1979) ISBN 0-582-78525-1
• Bread of Sorrow (1987)
• The Return of Shaka (1989)
• Weapon of Hunger (1989) ISBN 9966-49-813-3
• Striving for the Wind (1990) ISBN 0-435-90979-7
• The Last Plague (2000) ISBN 9966-25-064-6
• Mountain of Bones (2001)
• The Boy Gift (2006) ISBN 978-1-84728-471-6
• Mama Dudu, the Insect Woman (2007) ISBN 978-1-84728-468-6
• Baba Pesa (2007) ISBN 978-0-9796476-1-1
• The Big Chiefs (2007) ISBN 978-0-9796476-3-5
• Gun Runner (2007) ISBN 978-0-9796476-0-4
• Power (2009) ISBN 978-0-9796476-9-7
• Blood Brothers (2009) ISBN 978-0-9820126-0-4

Filmography

• Out of Africa (1985), assistant director
• White Mischief (1987, second assistant director
• The Kitchen Toto, casting director
• Gorillas in the Mist (1985), assistant director
• Shadow On The Sun (1988), location manager

References

1. Carol Brennan, "Meja Mwangi", Gale Contemporary Black Biography.

• Contemporary Writers: Meja Mwangi
• Meja Mwangi at the Internet Movie Database

External links

• Official website
• Post-Independence Disillusionment in Contemporary African Fiction: The Example of Meja Mwangi's "Kill Me Quick". by Ayo Kehinde