Charity Waciuma (born 1936) is a Kenyan writer, who wrote several novels for adolescents and an

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. ...

, ''Daughter of Mumbi'' (1969). Her work draws on

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: * Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya *Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...

legends and storytelling traditions. In the 1960s Waciuma and

Grace Ogot Grace Emily Ogot (née Akinyi; 15 May 1930 – 18 March 2015) was a Kenyan author, nurse, journalist, politician and diplomat. Together with Charity Waciuma she was the first Anglophone female Kenyan writer to be published.Mike Kuria, ed. ''Ta ...

became the first Kenyan women writers to be published in English.

Biography

Charity Wanjiku Waciuma grew up in pre-Independence Kenya, during the violent anti-colonial struggle between the

Mau-Mau The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

and British rulers. In accordance with Kikuyu naming traditions she was given her father's younger sister's name Wanjiku ("the gossip"), her last name Waciuma, meaning "beads", being a nickname of her grandmother’s father "because he had as many goats as beads in a necklace". She became one of Kenya's pioneering writers for children with the publication in 1966 of her first book ''Mweru, the Ostrich Girl'', which was followed by her other titles for young adults: ''The Golden Feather'', ''Merry Making'', and ''Who's Calling?''. Her autobiographical work ''Daughter of Mumbi'', published in 1969, unfolds the reactions of a sensitive Kikuyu girl to the terrible days of colonial oppression and the alarming events of the Mau Mau Emergency. The book is dedicated to Waciuma's father, who was killed during the Mau Mau Emergency."Book Review: Daughter of Mumbi by Charity Wanjiku Waciuma"
The Woyingi Blog, 8 September 2010. Waciuma wrote in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

hesitantly on the controversial cultural tradition of female genital excision, at a time when not all authors of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

descent in the 1960s did so. Her works were published before the decolonization of Kenya, and writing on this sensitive issue was before the fight for women's rights had become prominent, and before the physical and psychological effects of that particular practice for affected women were generally acknowledged or given global attention. Waciuma is included in the 1992 anthology ''

Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

Works

* ''Mweru, the Ostrich Girl'' (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1966) * ''The Golden Feather'' (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1966) * ''Daughter of Mumbi'' (Nairobi: Jacques Compton, 1969) * ''Merry-Making'' (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1972) * ''Who's Calling?'' (Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1973)

References

External links

"ITN Roving Report: The New Kenyans"
Charity Waciuma interview. Getty Images. {{DEFAULTSORT:Waciuma, Charity Kenyan women writers Kenyan women children's writers Living people Kenyan novelists Kenyan women novelists 20th-century novelists Women autobiographers 20th-century women writers 1936 births Autobiographers 20th-century Kenyan women writers