Grace emily akinyi ogot biography books

East Africa's best-known woman author, Grace Emily Akinyi Ogot (born ) wrote novels and short stories. She also became an important political figure in modern Kenya.

Grace Emily Akinyi Ogot earned a distinctive position in Kenya's literary and political history. The best known writer in East Africa, and with a varied career background, she became in one of only a handful of women to serve as a member of Parliament and the only woman assistant minister in the cabinet of President Daniel Arap Moi.

Born in Kenya's Central Nyanza District in , she was the child of pioneering Christian parents in the traditional Luo stronghold of Asembo. Her father, Joseph Nyanduga, was an early convert to the Anglican Church and one of the first men in Asembo to receive a Western education. He later taught at the Church Missionary Society's Ng'iya Girls' School. She remembered him reading her Bible stories, as well as hearing the traditional stories told by her grandmother. Later Ogot's writing reflected this dual background of tradition and modernity and the tensions between them.

Having attended Ng'iya Girls' School and Butere High School, the young woman trained as a nurse in both Uganda and England. Several years working as a nursing sister and midwifery tutor at Maseno Hospital (run by the Church Missionary Society), and later at the Student Health Service at Makerere University College, provided experience in a number of different careers. She worked as a script-writer and broadcaster for the BBC Overseas Service (later having her own popular weekly radio program in Luo), as a community development officer in Kisumu, and as a public relations officer for Air India. In the late s she opened two branches of a clothing boutique known as Lindy's in Nairobi.

She married the historian Bethwell Alan Ogot, a Luo from Gem Location, in and was the mother of four children. She began to publish short stories both in English and in Luo in the early s and he

Kenyan author (–)

Grace Emily Ogot (née Akinyi; 15 May – 18 March ) was a Kenyan author, nurse, journalist, politician and diplomat. Together with Charity Waciuma she was the first Anglophone female Kenyan writer to be published. She was one of the first Kenyan members of parliament and she became an assistant minister.

Biography

Ogot was born Grace Emily Akinyi to a Christian family on 15 May in Asembo, in the district of Nyanza, Kenya – a village highly populated by the predominantly Christian Luo ethnic group. Her father, Joseph Nyanduga, was one of the first men in the village of Asembo to obtain a Western education. He converted early on to the Anglican Church, and taught at the Church Missionary Society’s Ng'iya Girls’ School. From her father, she learned the stories of the Old Testament and it was from her grandmother that Ogot learned the traditional folk tales of the area from which she would later draw inspiration.

Grace Ogot's background was very interesting. Ogot attended the Ng'iya Girls' School and Butere High School throughout her youth. From to , she trained as a nurse at the Nursing Training Hospital in Uganda. She later worked in London, England, at St. Thomas Hospital for Mothers and Babies. She returned to the African nursing English.

In addition to her experience in healthcare, Ogot gained experience in multiple different areas, working for the BBC Overseas Service as a script-writer and announcer on the programme London Calling East and Central Africa, operating a prominent radio programme in the Luo language, working as an officer of community development in Kisumu County and as

Biography

Grace Ogot was born Grace Emily Akinyi in Butere in She went to the local girls&#; schools, where she learned English, which she used to read the Bible, an early influence on her work. She went to England to study nursing and, while there, corresponded with the historian Bethwell Allan Ogot, whom she later married. She started writing in her mother tongue, Luo, before switching to English and Swahili. While working as a nursing sister in Uganda, she attended a literary conference and was surprised to find no books from East African writers, so she determined to be more productive. She started writing stories, before moving on to novels. She makes extensive use of the traditions, folklore and background of Luo region of Kenya in her writings. As well as writing, she has been an M. P. and minister in Kenya as well as working for the BBC as an editor and broadcaster. She died in

Other links

Grace Ogot
Grace Ogot took the African story to the world
Beware and Be Warned (profile of Ogot)

Days of My Life Autobiography book of Grace Emily Akinyi Ogot

Grace Emily Akinyi Ogot earned several ?firsts? in the course of her life. She was the first Kenyan African woman to be awarded a scholarship for advanced studies in Britain in ; she was the first African Medical Sister at Maseno Hospital and Makerere University Clinic; the first African woman District Community Development Officer; the first African woman Principal of a Women Training Institute; the first African woman nominated municipal Councillor; and the first African woman in Kenya to be employed as a Public Relations Officer of an International Airline.

A pioneer author, she has written several novels and short stories which have been translated into several languages. She was the founder Chairperson of the Writers Association of Kenya; a former Vice Chairperson of the Kenya Oral Literature Association; a former Vice President of World Association of Women Journalists and Writers and a former Member of the Executive Board of Afro-Asian Translation Bureau based in New Delhi.

Grace was a Member of Parliament for ten years, during which she initiated many development projects in her gem constituency. She was the second African woman to be appointed an assistant Minister in the Kenya government; and was an official of the ruling party KANU at a time when Kenya was a one-party state. She has been involved in national, regional and international women empowerment movements for the last fifty Ogot is also a prominent business woman.

In this autobiography, she traces her life story from birth in , and takes the reader through the various phases of her rich and inspiring life. It is an exemplary life of determination, perseverance, self-discipline and selfless service to fellow human beings. The book promises to be a valuable addition to the rapidly expanding library of African autobiographies.