Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, giant of African literature, dies aged 87

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, pictured at the Edinburgh international book festival in 2018. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/Guardian

The Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who was censored, imprisoned and forced into exile, a perennial contender for the Nobel prize for literature and one of few writers working in an indigenous African language, has died aged 87.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, this Wednesday morning,” wrote his daughter Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ on Facebook. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight.”