Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo

Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo, Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence; past Chair of the Department of African American Studies; past Director of the Africa Initiative and past Director of Graduate Studies in AAS at SU, is a poet, playwright and literary critic who has published 6 books, 8 co-edited supplementary school readers, 3 monographs and edited the journal, Third World in Perspective.

Her works include: Daughter of My People, Sing! (Poetry); My Mother’s Poem and Other Songs (Poetry);The Long Illness of Ex-Chief Kiti (Play);Visions of Africa (Literary Criticism),African Orature and Human Rights (Monograph);
Gikũyũ, Shona and Ndebele Ethics/Aesthetics (Monograph); Mũthoni wa Kĩrĩma--Mau Mau Woman Field Marshal: Interrogating Silencing, Erasure and Manipulation of Female Combatants’ Texts (Monograph) and The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (Play, co-authored with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o ).

Her forthcoming book is titled, Writing and Speaking from the Heart of my Mind: Selected Essays and Speeches. Mĩcere is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Africanist Award from the New York African Studies Association for her contribution to scholarship. In November 2002, The East African Standard Century listed her among “The Top 100: They Influenced Kenya Most During the 20th Century.” Mĩcere is also a member of numerous organizations and serves on many committees, advisory/executive boards and directorships - locally as well as internationally. A committed community activist, Mĩcere is a passionate advocate for human rights especially as they have been historically denied to marginalized groups. She describes her daughters, Mũmbi and Njeri, as her best friends and indispensable comrades in the struggle for social justice.