Meja Mwangi (born 27 December 1948) is a Kenyan writer.^[3] He has worked in the film industry, including in screenwriting, assistant directing, and casting.

Biography

Mwangi was born David Dominic Mwangi in Nanyuki, Kenya, and was educated at Nanyuki Secondary School, Kenyatta College, and briefly at the University of Leeds.^[4] He then worked for the French Broadcasting Corporation doing odd jobs and the British Council in Nairobi as Visual Aids Officer,^[5] before turning to writing full-time. He was Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa (1975–76).

After a prolonged period on the Kenyan and African publishing scene, Mwangi moved to the US after gaining international recognition and winning several awards.^[6]

His best-known early work includes the novels Kill Me Quick (1973), Going Down River Road (1976), and The Cockroach Dance (1979), which illustrate the urban landscapes of Kenya, the struggle against poverty, and the AIDS epidemic.^[7]

Prizes and awards

For general readers

• Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature for Kill Me Quick (1974 - English winner); The Last Plague (2001 - English winner); Boy Gift (2007 - English Youth third place); Big Chief (2009 - English Adult Fiction third place).
• Lotus Prize for Literature (1978) presented by the Afro-Asian Writers' Association (aka Association of Asian and African Writers)^[8]

For juvenile readers

• Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Prize), for Kariuki und sein weißer Freund. Eine Erzählung aus Kenia (Little White Man (1990), title changed to The Mzungu Boy (1992))
• Le Prix Lire au College for Kariuki (1992)
• American Library Association (USA) Notable Children's Books Award for Older Readers, The Mzungu Boy (2006)^[9]

Shortlist

• Noma Award (Honourable mention), for Bread of Sorrow (1989)
• International Dublin Literary Award (Nomination), for The Last Plague (2002)

Literary works

In English

• Kill Me Quick. East African Ecucational Publishers. 1973. ((cite book)): |work= ignored (help)^[10]
• Carcase for Hounds. Peak Library. Heinemann Educational. 1974. ISBN 0-435-90145-1. Adapted for the film "Cry Freedom".[1]
• Taste of Death. Peak Library. Kenya: East African Publishing House. 1975.
• Going Down River Road. Peak Library. Heinemann. 1976. ISBN 978-0435901769.
• Mwangi, Meja (1979). The Bushtrackers. Longman Drumbeat. ISBN 0-582-78525-1.
• Mwangi, Meja (1979). The Cockroach Dance. Longman. ISBN 0-582-64276-0.
• Bread of Sorrow. 1987.
• The Return of Shaka. 1989.
• Mwangi, Meja (1989). Weapon of Hunger. Longman Kenya. ISBN 9966-49-813-3.
• Jimi the Dog. 1990.
• Striving for the Wind. Peak Library. Heinemann International Literature. 1992. ISBN 978-0435909796.
• The Hunter's Dream. United Kingdom: Macmillan Education. 1994. ISBN 978-0333580028.
• The Last Plague (Vitabu Vya Nyota Series, 2). Peak Library. East African Educational Publisher. 1997. ISBN 978-9966250827.^[11]
• Mountain of Bones. 2001.
• The Boy Gift. HM Books. 2006. ISBN 978-1-84728-471-6.
• The Mzungu Boy. Canada: Groundwood Books. 2006. ISBN 978-0888996640.
• Mwangi, Meja (2007). Mama Dudu, the Insect Woman. ISBN 978-1-84728-468-6.
• Baba Pesa. HM Books Intl. 2007. ISBN 978-0-9796476-1-1.
• Mwangi, Meja (2007). The Big Chiefs. ISBN 978-0-9796476-3-5.
• Mwangi, Meja (2007). Gun Runner. HM Books Intl. ISBN 978-0-9796476-0-4.
• Free?: Stories Celebrating Human Rights. Walker. 2009. ISBN 978-1406318302.
• Rafiki - Man Guitar. HM Books Intl. 2013.
• Christmas Without Tusker. HM Books. 2015. ISBN 978-0-982012680.

Translations

• Carcaça para càès [Carcase for Hounds] (in Portuguese). Fernanda Tomé da Silva (translator). Lisboa: Ediçoès 70. 1980.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Wie ein Aas für Hunde [Carcase for Hounds] (in German). Gunter Böhnke (translator). Leipzig: Philipp Reclam. 1985.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Narben des Himmels [Striving for the Wind] (in German). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 1992. ISBN 978-3872944719.
• Kariuki (aventures avec le petit homme blanc) [The Mzungu Boy] (in French). 1992.^[12]
• Mister Rivers letztes Solo [Weapon of Hunger] (in German). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 1995. ISBN 978-3872946409.
• Mwangi, Meja (1995). Kariuki und sein weißer Freund [The Mzungu Boy] (in German). Lamuv. ISBN 978-3889773227.
• Die Achte Plage [The Last Plague] (in German). Susanne Koehler (translator). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 1997. ISBN 978-3872947758.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• La Ballade des perdus [Kill Me Quick] (in French). Françoise Balogun (translator). Editions Dapper. 2001. ISBN 978-2906067646.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Descente a River Road [Going Down River Road] (in French). Mwangi, Meja (editor), Jean-Baptiste Evette (translator). Paris: Dapper. 2002. ISBN 978-2906067813.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Happy Valley [The Boy Gift] (in German). Thomas Brückner (translator). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 2006. ISBN 9783779500513.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Das Buschbaby [Mama Dudu, the Insect Woman] (in German). Thomas Brückner (translator). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 2007. ISBN 9783779501534.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Big Chiefs [The Big Chiefs] (in German). Thomas Brückner (translator). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 2009. ISBN 9783779502319.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Rafiki [Rafiki - Man Guitar] (in German). Thomas Brückner (translator). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 2014. ISBN 9783779504825.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Tanz der Kakerlaken [The Cockroach Dance] (in German). Jutta Himmelreich (translator). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 2015. ISBN 9783779505280.((cite book)): CS1 maint: others (link)
• Mwangi, Meja (2002). Descente à River Road (in French). Dapper. ISBN 978-2906067813.
• Nairobi, River Road [Going Down River Road] (in German). Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag. 1982. ISBN 978-3872942012.
• Mwangi, Meja (2001). Die Wilderer [The Bushtrackers] (in German). Unionsverl. ISBN 978-3293202184.

Theatre, screenplays, other adaptations

• Power. HM Books. 2009. ISBN 978-0-9796476-9-7. (adaptation of The Big Chiefs - 2007)
• Mwangi, Meja (2009). Blood Brothers. HM Books Intl. ISBN 978-0-9820126-0-4. (adaptation of Mama Dudu, the Insect Woman - 2007)

Filmography

• Assistant director (1985). Out of Africa.
• Second assistant director (1987). White Mischief.
• Casting director (1988). The Kitchen Toto.