WRITER

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

1938 - Today

Photo of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Icon of person Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (Gikuyu pronunciation: [ᵑɡoɣe wá ðiɔŋɔ]; born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938) is a Kenyan author and academic, who has been described as "East Africa's leading novelist". He began writing in English, switching to write primarily in Gikuyu. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o has received more than 1,209,515 page views. His biography is available in 57 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 51 in 2019). Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is the 2,176th most popular writer (down from 1,710th in 2019), the 8th most popular biography from Kenya and the most popular Kenyan Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 61.71

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 57

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.57

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.68

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ranks 2,176 out of 7,302. Before him are Nelson Algren, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, Antimachus, Herman Bang, Alexander Imich, and S. S. Van Dine. After him are Apollonius Dyscolus, Dagny Juel, Jacques Futrelle, Erich Mühsam, Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, and Fernando de Rojas.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1938, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ranks 160. Before him are Tengiz Kitovani, Beata Tyszkiewicz, David Baltimore, Igor Sergeyev, Sergei Novikov, and Jean Eustache. After him are Oleg Gordievsky, Goh Kun, Luis Artime, Ronny Cox, Alan Dershowitz, and Manuel Sanchís Martínez.

Others Born in 1938

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In Kenya

Among people born in Kenya, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ranks 8 out of 150. Before him are Richard Dawkins (1941), Barack Obama Sr. (1936), Roger Whittaker (1936), Jomo Kenyatta (1893), Louis Leakey (1903), and Daniel arap Moi (1924). After him are Deep Roy (1949), Mwai Kibaki (1931), Richard Leakey (1944), Kipchoge Keino (1940), Eliud Kipchoge (1984), and Uhuru Kenyatta (1961).

Others born in Kenya

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Among WRITERS In Kenya

Among writers born in Kenya, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ranks 1. After him are Philippa Gregory (1954), Grace Ogot (1930), and Binyavanga Wainaina (1971).

Kenyan born Writers

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