Matigari

NGG WA THIONGO is Kenyas most prolic writer. From the wa Thiongo time he launched himself as a pioneer African writer with Weep Not Child (1964), there was no stopping him. The title was quickly followed by The River Between (1965) and A Grain of Wheat (1967), both of which confirmed Ngg as a writer of great ambition. The subsequent novels, Petals of Blood (1977) and Devil on the Cross (1980) had great impact around the world due to their powerful political message. Ngg has taught in universities both in Kenya and abroad, and has been an ardent advocate of writing in indigenous languages. Besides writing novels, he has also published plays, short stories and essays on Caribbean and African writing. All his novels are published in the African Classics Series. Who is Matigari? Is he young or old; a man or fate; dead or living or a resurrection of Jesus Christ? These are the questions asked by the people of this unnamed country, when a man who has survived the war of independence emerges from the mountains and starts making strange claims and demands. Matigari is in search of his family, to rebuild his home and start a new and peaceful future, but his search becomes a quest for truth and justice as he finds the people still disposessed and the land he loves ruled by corruption, fear and misery. Lyrical and hilarious in turn, Matigari, which was first published in Gky as Matigari ma Njirngi, is a memorable satire on the betrayal of human ideals and on the bitter experience of post-independence African society.