Grace Ogot

Grace Ogot , actually Grace Emily Akinyi (born May 15, 1930 in Asembo near Kisumu , Nyanza Province , Kenya ; † March 18, 2015 in Nairobi ), was one of the first women writers in Africa and arguably the most important author in East Africa .

Life

Ogot attended Ng'iya Girls' School and Butere High School in Butere . She then trained as a nurse and midwife in Uganda and Great Britain and later worked as a midwife in Kenya. Then she switched to journalism and worked for BBC radio as a spokesperson and editor, but also for Air India in PR management.

In 1959 she married the historian Bethwell Alan Ogot. She became the mother of four children.

Ogot has held various ambassadorial posts at the UN and UNESCO . She was also a founding member of the Writers' Association of Kenya. In 1984 she was one of the few female members of parliament and was the only woman to achieve cabinet rank as Assistant Minister under President Daniel Arap Moi .

Writing activity

Ogot was one of the first women writers in Africa to attract international attention. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies or in African and European papers such as Black Orpheus and Transition ; In 1962 and 1964 two short stories were published by her. She wrote her novels and short stories in English and Luo , her mother tongue. Like her compatriot Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o , she emphasized the importance of local languages.

Her breakthrough came in 1966 with her first novel The Promised Land, which takes up the problem of population migration in Kenya at the time. In 1966 she was the first African woman to publish a complete novel in an African publishing house, the East African Publishing House in Nairobi. In her second novel, The Graduate (1980), she told the story of a man who returns home after studying in the USA. This gave her the opportunity to address the issue of gender inequality in politics and how successful women can be if only given the opportunity.

Grace Ogot was included in the Daughters of Africa anthology , edited in 1992 by Margaret Busby in London and New York.

Works

• The Promised Land. East African Publishing House (EAPH), Nairobi 1966 (novel).
  • Heinemann, Nairobi 1990.
• Land without thunder. East African Publishing House (EAPH), Nairobi 1968 (short stories).
• The Other Woman. 1976 (short stories).
• The Graduate. Uzima Press, Nairobi 1980 (novel).
• The Island of tears. Uzima Press, Nairobi 1980 (short stories).
• Miaha. 1983 (retelling of a village Luo legend).
• The strange bride. Translation from the Luo of Okoth Okombo. Heinemann, Nairobi 1989 (novel).
• The other woman. East African Educational Publishers House (EAPH), Nairobi 1992 (short stories).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joseph Muraya: Ex-Assistant Minister and author Grace Ogot dies. In: capitalfm.co.ke. March 18, 2015, accessed on March 20, 2015 (English, with photo).