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Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o - A Grain of Wheat

A special edition in the company of an audience of readers and students at Nairobi University's bustling bookshop, where celebrated Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o was a director.

This month a special edition of BBC World Book Club coming from Nairobi in Kenya. Lawrence Pollard talks to celebrated Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o in the company of an enthusiastic audience of readers and students who have gathered in the bustling bookshop of Nairobi University where Ngugi was once a director. We’re discussing Ngũgĩ's landmark novel A Grain of Wheat, set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya’s independence from Britain. In it the tangled narratives of a group of Kenyan villagers interweave to tell an epic story of love tested, friendships betrayed and myths forged, confirming Ngũgĩ's status as a giant of African writing.

Available now

50 minutes

Last on

Sat 9 Mar 201921:00GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sun 3 Mar 201903:06GMT
  • Sun 3 Mar 201914:06GMT
  • Wed 6 Mar 201909:06GMT
  • Thu 7 Mar 201900:06GMT
  • Sat 9 Mar 201921:00GMT

Podcast