Simon Gikandi
James Ogude
Ndirangu Wachanga
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ
Mumbi wa Ngũgĩ
Ndũcũ wa Ngũgĩ
Nyambura Sallinen
Wangũi wa Goro
Karen Lawrence
Colette LaBouff
Angela Davis
Adriana Johnson
Mukul Kumar
Carla Wilson
Paa Kwesi-Heto
Akosua Adomako Ampofo
Chimee Adịọha
Baba Badji
Jaye Austin Williams
Cilas Kemedjio
Anindo Marshall
Kwame Rĩgĩĩ
Nii Armah Sowah
Sela Adjei
Victor Nani Agbeli
Mumbi Ngũgĩ
Fred Moten
Jimmy Centeno
Idza Luhumyo
Bwesigye Bwa-Mwesigire
Rah Hite
Tyrus Miller
Jane O. Newman
Jerry Lee
Ketu Katrak
Gabriele Schwab
David Theo Goldberg
Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan
Cecelia Lynch
S. Ama Wray
Munyao Kilolo
Glaydah Namukasa
Joel Veenstra










Ndirangu Wachanga





Ndirangu Wachanga is a Professor of Media Studies and Information Science at the University of Wisconsin. He is the authorized documentary biographer of Ali A. Mazrui, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and Micere Githae Mugo. His documentary projects preserve African memory by capturing voices and histories through visual and audio technologies.

His most recent publication is the Swahili translation of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s epic The Perfect Nine, published as Tisa Timilifu (2025). He also edited Making Life Sing in Pursuit of Utu: Essays in Honor of Micere Githae Mugo (2022) and co-edited Ngũgĩ: Reflections on a Life of Writing with Simon Gikandi (2018). His earlier works include Growing up in a Shrinking World: How Politics, Culture and the Nuclear Age Defined the Biography of Ali A. Mazrui (2017).

Wachanga’s documentaries include Make Life Sing (2024) and Ali Mazrui: A Walking Triple Heritage, which won the 2015 New York African Studies Book Award. He is currently producing films on the Gambian kora player, Sona Jobarteh, and on poet and civil rights activist Sonia Sanchez.

His journalistic work has appeared on international media networks including the BBC and Voice of America. His research interests focus on memory, documentation, and communication technologies. He is currently completing two book projects: Memory and the African Intellectual Imaginary: Biography as Method and Voice and Social Justice: The Works of Micere Githae Mugo.

Wachanga’s media library can be accessed at https://www.wachangaproductions.com/about





The Celebration of the Life and Work of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is made possible through the support of the:

UCI Office of the Chancellor
Dean of the School of the Arts
Dean of the School of Humanities
Dean of the School of Social Sciences
Humanities Center
International Center for Writing and Translation
UCI Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality
Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies
Office of Inclusive Excellence
UCI Illuminations: The Chancellor's Arts & Culture Initiative
Alex Glasser The Center for the Power of Music and Social Change
Department of Anthropology
Department of Comparative Literature
Department of Drama
Department of English
Department of Dance

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Organized by:

Adriana Johnson
Jane O. Newman
Gabriele Schwab
Ketu Katrak
Jerry Lee
Cecelia Lynch
S. Ama Wray