Tomorrow, at the British Library I’ll be chairing an event to mark the 25th anniversary of the translation of one of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s seminal novels, Matigari, into English. Translated from GIkuyu by acclaimed writer and translator Wangui wa Goro, Matigari is the story of a revolutionary who returns from the bush to his newly independent land to find nothing much has changed,and the new elite is just as prebendal as the colonialists he struggled against. It follows his quest, aided by a worker, a prostitute and an orphan, to reclaim his rightful home, with devastating but revolutionary consequences.
The panel is part of Africa in Translation: Poetry in (e)motion which opens Africa Writes, the annual literature festival of the Royal African Society.
I’m looking forward to discussing the intricacies of translating from indigenous African languages into English, by one of the doyennes of the field.
Join us if you can.
The Jist: Short and sweet content 