Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye

Marjorie King (Known as "Mother of Kenyan Literature")

Novelist, Poet, Bookseller, Sinclair Prize Winner

Born 1928-10-21

Southampton, Great Britain

Passed Away 2015-12-01 Nairobi, Kenya

Lifespan 87 years old

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Notice / Correction

"To belong to a land is not a matter of birthplace, but of where your love has built its home."

Archival Overview

Celebrated novelist and poet acclaimed as the 'Mother of Kenyan Literature', whose 1986 masterwork 'Coming to Birth' won the Sinclair Prize and captured the birth of independent Kenya.

Biographical Record

Marjorie King was born on October 21, 1928, in Southampton, England. Travelling to Kenya in 1954 to work as a bookseller for the Church Missionary Society, she fell in love with medical officer Daniel Oludhe Macgoye, married into the Luo community, and became an active Kenyan citizen.

Writing from deep within Kenyan domestic reality, Macgoye published acclaimed novels and poetry collections, notably Coming to Birth (1986), which won the prestigious Sinclair Prize for its brilliant interweaving of a young woman's personal growth with Kenya's tumultuous political journey to independence. Her epic poem Song of Nyarloka and novel The Present Moment earned her enduring acclaim as the maternal soul of modern Kenyan literature.

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Rest in Peace Forever remembered and cherished Your legacy lives on in all of us With deep gratitude for your life and light

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Siaya Rural Cemetery
Siaya, Kenya

                         GPS: 0.0607, 34.2881                    

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