University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822	(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail
Media Advisory/ Photo Opportunities:	October 3, 1997
Contact: Haunani-Kay Trask, Director Center for Hawaiian Studies, 808-973-0989

UH Center for Hawaiian Studies brings distinguished African novelist and playwright to O'ahu  What: Ngugi wa Thiong'o will deliver two free public lectures next week. Media representatives may also phone 973-0989 to schedule interviews or take advantage of other photo opportunities.  When & Where: · Tuesday, October 7, noon UH Manoa Campus Center Ballroom · Thursday, October 9, 6:30 p.m. UH Manoa Center for Hawaiian Studies Auditorium  How:  Ngugi wa Thiong'o's visit is co-sponsored by the Office of the UH Senior Vice President and UH Manoa Executive Vice Chancellor; the Dean of the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies; the Distinguished Lecture Series of UH; the Associated Students of UH; the Campus Center Board Activities Council; the Graduate Student Organization; and the Hawai'i La'ieikawai Association Inc.  - UH - Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the distinguished African writer and Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience (Kenya 1977), has been at the forefront of discussions on the role of indigenous languages in decolonization, particularly in Africa, and has provided inspiration to anti-colonialist struggles throughout the world. Born in Kenya, where he taught literature at the University of Nairobi and founded an innovative rural theater company, Ngugi is internationally famous for his novels and plays. His novels include Weep Not Child (1964), The River Between (1965), A Grain of Wheat (1967), Petals of Blood (1977), Devil on a Cross (1982) and Matigari Ma Njiruungi (1986). In 1977 Kenyan authorities detained Ngugi without charge after the production of his play, Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want). The drama, staged in the Gikuyu language with a cast of peasants and workers from the village of Kamiriithu, was sharply critical of the inequalities and deprivation faced by ordinary Kenyans. Amnesty International designated Ngugi a Prisoner of Conscience, and he was released in 1978. While in prison Ngugi became deeply committed to the continued development of African languages and cultural practices. His books of critical essays-Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (1984), Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedom (1993) and Writers in Politics (1997)-all explore the cultural politics of resistance movements and the importance of culture in the struggle for national self-determination. So powerful are Ngugi's ideas and skills as a writer that when his last novel was released in Kenya, the government issued a warrant for the main character's arrest! Threatened with further detentions, Ngugi and his family have lived in exile since 1982. They reside now in New York City, where he holds the Erich Maria Remarque Endowed Chair in Languages at New York University. Ngugi's work has been translated into more than 20 languages. Among the honors his work has earned are the East African Novel Prize, presented in 1961 for his first novel, The River Between; Lotus Prize for Afro-Asian Literature, 1973; Paul Robeson Prize for Artistic Excellence, Political Conscience and Integrity, 1991; Zora Neal-Hurston-Paul Robeson Award of the Council for Black Studies, Accra, Ghana, 1993; Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1994; Contributor's Arts Award of Chicago State University's Gwendolyn Brooks Center, for his long-term significant contributions to the Black Literary Arts, 1994; Fonlon-Nichols Prize for Artistic Excellence and Human Rights, 1996; and the Distinguished Africanist Award of the New York African Studies Association, 1996.

-UH-