Category: Transition
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Nigerian academic and author Kole Omotoso has passed away.
Nigerian academic and author Kole Omotoso passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Kole Omotoso was born in April 1941 and went to King’s College, Lagos, from where he proceeded to the University of Ibadan and then to the University of Edinburgh where his doctoral thesis was on Ahmad Ba Kathir,…
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Micere Mugo has passed away
Kenyan playwright, academic, and poet Micere Mugo passed away in the United States on Friday, June 30, 2023. Micere Githae Mugo was born in Kenya to two progressive teacher parents in 1942. After an education that included Makerere University, the University of New Brunswick, and University of Toronto, she started lecturing at the University of…
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Egyptian Novelist Hamdy Abu Golayyel has passed away
Egyptian Novelist Hamdy Abu Golayyel passed away on Sunday, June 11, 2023. Abu Golayyel, of Bedouin origins, was born in 1968. His first literary publication was a short-story collection, Swarms of Bees (1997) followed by another short-story collection, Items Folded with Great Care (2000). His first novel, Thieves in Retirement, was published in 2002, and…
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Ama Ata Aidoo has passed away
Author, poet, playwright, and academic Ama Ata Aidoo passed away in Accra, Ghana on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Ama Ata Aidoo was born in Abeadzi Kyiakor, near Saltpond, in the Central Region of Ghana on 23 March 1942. She attended Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast from 1961 to 1964 then enrolled at…
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South African writer Eusebius McKaiser has passed away
South African writer Eusebius McKaiser passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Eusebius McKaiser was a political analyst, journalist, and broadcaster. Among others, he wrote for the Mail & Guardian, the Sunday Times, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The New York Times, and Business Day, for which he wrote a weekly column.…
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Kenyan writer Karang’ae Chege has passed away.
Kenyan writer Karang’ae Chege who wrote numerous titles in Kiswahili and English passed away on March 5, 2023. Karang’ae Chege’s first published work was a Kiswahili poem titled Kibuyu Changu. His play, Vita vya Panzi, which won the Okoth Kobonyo play writers’ competition in the late 1990s, was staged in various theatres in Nairobi. He…
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2022 recap: Transition and Literary Awards across Africa (Part 1)
We look back at the literary scene in 2022 with a two-part series starting with those who left us in 2022 and winners of literary competitions across Africa and its diaspora. In 2016, we here at James Murua Literary introduced what we called the “Outstanding African Literary Awards” where we gave you a look at…
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Egyptian novelist and short story writer Bahaa Taher has passed away.
Egyptian novelist and short story writer Bahaa Taher passed away in Egypt from illness on October 27, 2022. Bahaa Taher was born in Giza Governorate on January 13, 1935, in Egypt. He had a bachelor’s degree in history, and literature faculty in 1956, then a postgraduate diploma in media from the University of Cairo in…
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Sierra Leone writer and librarian Yema Lucilda Hunter has passed away
Sierra Leonean librarian, novelist, and biographer Yema Lucilda Hunter passed away in Accra, Ghana on Sunday, August 21, 2022. Yema Lucilda Caulker was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone on 15 July 1943 to Richard Edmund Kelfa-Caulker and Olivette Hannah Stuart. Her father was a diplomat and educationist became the first African principal of the Albert…
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Nigerian novelist and filmmaker Biyi Bandele has passed away.
Nigerian novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Biyi Bandele passed away in Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday, August 7, 2022. Biyi Bandele was born in Kaduna State in 1967 and did his undergraduate studies at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. During a long career, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre, and the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as…
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South African poet and author Don Mattera has passed away.
South African poet, author, and anti-apartheid activist Don Mattera passed away in Pretoria, South Africa on Monday, July 18, 2022. Donato Francisco Mattera, better known as Don Mattera or Bra Don, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1935. His unique heritage was derived from his Italian grandfather, Xhosa grandmother, and Tswana mother. Some of…
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Somaliland writer and scholar Said Jama Hussein has passed away.
Somaliland writer and scholar Said Jama Hussein died from cancer in London, UK on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Said Jama Hussein was a well-known Somali scholar, intensely devoted to the promotion of the Somali language and culture. He is the author of Shufbeeland and Safar Aan Jaho Lahayn; both are collections of short stories…
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Barbadian novelist and poet George Lamming has passed away.
Barbadian novelist, essayist, and poet George Lamming passed away on Saturday, June 4, 2022. George Lamming was born on June 8, 1927, in Barbados and started his career as a teacher before emigrating to England and finding work as a broadcaster for the BBC Colonial Service. His debut novel In the Castle of My Skin…
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Kenyan poet and musician Grandmaster Masese has passed away.
Kenyan poet and musician Grandmaster Masese, real name Dennis Dancan Mosiere, passed away on June 1, 2022. Grandmaster Masese, real name Dennis Dancan Mosiere, came to prominence when a new poetry scene emerged in Nairobi in the mid-2000s. That scene was centred around the monthly Kwani Open Mic where poets could show off their prowess…
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Congolese poet and academic Philippe Masegabio Nzanzu has passed away.
Congolese poet and academic Philippe Masegabio Nzanzu passed away on May 16, 2022. Philippe Masegabio Nzanzu was born in 1944 in the province of Equateur and he completed his Greco-Latin humanities at Saint-Thomas de Lisala College. A lover of Romanesque philology, Philippe Masegabio was a doctor of letters and philosophy trained at the University of…