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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 1,114,738 page views. His biography is available in 51 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 49 in 2019). Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is the 1,714th most popular writer (up from 2,435th in 2019), the 8th most popular biography from Kenya (up from 9th in 2019) and the most popular Kenyan Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 56.44

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 51

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.03

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.99

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Page views of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'os by language


Among WRITERS

Among writers, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ranks 1,714 out of 5,755. Before him are Miguel Hernández, Philemon, Attila József, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Jordan of Saxony, and Vasily Shukshin. After him are Guillaume de Lorris, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Clark Ashton Smith, Hannah Szenes, Symeon the Metaphrast, and Jules Romains.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1938, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ranks 121. Before him are Radivoj Korać, Heino, Robert Smithson, Wu Yi, David Baltimore, and Mamadou Tandja. After him are Ivan Sutherland, Amfilohije Radović, Oleg Gordievsky, Marien Ngouabi, Nabih Berri, and Anne Perry.

Others Born in 1938

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In Kenya

Among people born in Kenya, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ranks 8 out of 140. Before him are Wangari Maathai (1940), Barack Obama Sr. (1936), Jomo Kenyatta (1893), Louis Leakey (1903), Richard Leakey (1944), and Roger Whittaker (1936). After him are Daniel arap Moi (1924), Deep Roy (1949), Mwai Kibaki (1931), Eliud Kipchoge (1984), Uhuru Kenyatta (1961), and Philippa Gregory (1954).

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) and Binyavanga Wainaina (1971).

Kenyan born Writers

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