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PROF. EMILIA V. ILIEVA

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PERSONAL DETAILS
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PROFESSOR
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Job Category
Teaching
Phone Number
+254733840221
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Directorate / Dept
DEPT. OF LANGUAGES,LIT AND LINGUISTICS
Section
Literature
Address
Egerton University, P. O. Box 536, 20115 Egerton, Kenya
SUMMARY

Emilia V. Ilieva has a B.A. and an M. A. (English and Literature) from the University of Sofia (Bulgaria), and a Ph.D. (African Literature) from the Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences.

She has worked as a Lecturer in English at the University of Sofia (1980-1982), a Chief Consultant on African Literature for Narodna Kultura Publishing House, Sofia (1980-1982) and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences (1990-1993).

Since 1994 she has been based at Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya, teaching in the Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. She was Lecturer between 1994-1995, Senior Lecturer between 1995-2000, Associate Professor between 2000-2013, and Professor of Literature since 2014. Between 2000-2005 she was chair of the Department of Literature.

Ilieva’s publications are in the areas of African literary history, the sociology of African literature, its aesthetics, and African women’s writing. She has contributed to the journals Vostok (Moscow), Research in African Literatures, World Literature in English, African Literature Today, Journal of Third World Studies, and Egerton Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education. She has also authored chapters in the books Enchanted Reality: The World of African Mentality (Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, 1994), The World of the African Village: The Dynamics of Development of Social Structures and Spiritual Culture (Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, 1997), Satires in the Literatures of Asia and Africa (Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, 2004), among others. Her entries are included in the Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English (London: Routledge, 1994), The Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century (New York: St James Press, 1999), where she was also on the Advisory Board, The Companion to African Literature in English (Oxford: James Currey; Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2000), Encyclopedia of Life Writing (London and Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2001), Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures in English (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005), Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2007), Women Writing Africa: The Eastern Region (New York: The Feminist Press at CUNY), Afropolitanism: Essays on Borders and Spaces in Contemporary African Literature and Folklore (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2011), Teaching the Novels of Ngugi wa Thiong’o (New York: MLA, 2012), Coming of Age: Strides in African Publishing. Essays in Honour of Dr. Henry Chakava @70 (Nairobi: EAEP, 2016).

Ilieva has written literary articles for The Sunday Nation (Nairobi), The Sunday Standard (Nairobi), and The Guardian (UK).

Ilieva has translated African fiction into Bulgarian, the major work being Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s novel, Petals of Blood (Sofia: Narodna Kultura, 1983). 

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

B.A. and M.A. (English Language and Literature), University of Sofia, Bulgaria

Ph.D. (African Literature), Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

 

FIELDS OF SPECIALIZATION

African literary history, the sociology of African literature, its aesthetics, and African women’s writing.

WORK EXPERIENCE

1990–1993: Visiting Senior Research Fellow in African Literature, Institute of World Literature, Academy of Sciences, Moscow

1994–1995: Lecturer, Department of Literature, Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya

1995 – 2000 (June): Senior Lecturer, Department of Literature, Egerton University

 2000 (June) – 2014 (January): Associate Professor, Department of Literature (now Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics), Egerton University

2014 – present: Professor of Literature, Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Egerton University

2017 – present: Programme Academic Leader in Ph.D. in Literature, Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Egerton University

2017 – present: Seminar Convenor, Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Egerton University

2020 - present: Programme Academic Leader in M.A. in Literature, Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Egerton University

 

KEY PROJECTS

"Scholarly Life-Writing: Folklore, Oral Literature Field Work, and the Legacy of Henry Owuor Anyumba”. With Fugich Wako and Peter Amuka, 2011-2012. Egerton University. Project completed and report Submitted.

"The History of Egerton University (1939-2019)". With Reuben M. Matheka. Ongoing.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

The history of East African literature; Women's writing; Ethics and literature; African diasporic literature; The History of Higher Education in Africa

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Ilieva, Emilia. 1983. “The Brave Talent to Draw Petals of Blood.” [in Bulgarian] An Introduction to Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Petals of Blood. Sofia: Narodna Kultura, 1983, pp. 5-13.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1983. “Notes and Comments on Petals of Blood.” [in Bulgarian] In: Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Petals of Blood. Sofia: Narodna Kultura, 1983, pp. 451-462.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1984. “Ngugi wa Thiong’o: Major Social and Political Problems in His Non-fictional         Writings of the 1970s and 1980s.” [in Russian] In: Fourth All-Union Conference of Africanists “Africa in the 1980s: Results and Prospects of Development.” Part IV-2, Moscow: Institute of African Studies, pp. 26-29.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1985. “Ngugi wa Thiong’o. The Barrel of His Pen.” [in Russian] – Social Sciences Abroad/Literary Studies (Moscow), No. 2, pp. 172-174.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1986. “Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the Role of Intellectuals in the African Society.” [in Russian] In: Contemporary African Literature and Ideology. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pp. 85-93.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1987. “Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Literary Criticism in East Africa.” [in Russian] In: Studies in African Literature. Tbilisi: University Press, pp. 75-84.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1988. “Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the Role of African Languages in the Creation of African Literature.” [in Russian] In: Languages in Africa: Linguistic Problems of Modern African Studies, Part II. Moscow: Institute of African Studies, pp. 73-78.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1989. “The Road as a Trajectory and a Symbol.” [in Bulgarian] An Introduction to: Wole Soyinka. The Eternal Cycle. Selected Works. Sofia: Narodna Kultura, pp. 5-26.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1990. “Bibliography. Works of African Writers Translated into Bulgarian.” – Research in African Literatures, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 183-184. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819342

Ilieva, Emilia. 1991. “East African Literature in the 1980s.” [in Russian] In: African Literatures in the 1980s. Moscow: Institute of World Literature Manuscripts, 40 pages.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1992. “The Social Dimension of East African Literature in the 1980s.” [in Russian] In: Social and Ethno-cultural Processes in Contemporary Africa. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pp. 263-276.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1992. “The Synthesis of African and Western Artistic Traditions in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Devil on the Cross.” [in Russian] In: The Interaction of Cultures and Literatures of the East and the West. Part 2. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pp. 389-397.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1992. “The Peasant as a Protagonist in the African ‘Village Novel’.” [in Russian] In: The Place and Role of the Peasantry in Contemporary Africa. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pp. 170-177.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1993. “In Search of Aesthetics for African Literature.” [in Russian] – Vostok (Moscow), No. 5, pp. 53-64.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1994. “The Image of the African in Literature.” [in Russian] In: Enchanted Reality: The World of African Mentality. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pp. 31-49.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1994. Three entries to The Routledge Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. London: Routledge. They are: “Humour and Satire (East Africa)”, pp. 699-700; “Ismael R. Mbise”, p. 1006; “Peter K. Palangyo”, pp. 1194-1195. https://www.routledge.com/Encyclopedia-of-Post-Colonial-Literatures-in-English/Benson-Conolly/p/book/9780415051996

Ilieva, Emilia. 1995. “Critical Theory and African Literature Today, No. 19. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1994”. (A review) – Egerton Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 167-171.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1996. “David Grossman. The Yellow Wind. New York: Dell Publishing, 1989”. (A review) – Egerton Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 354-360.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1997. “The Influence of European and Urban Civilisations on the Way of life and the World-view of African Village Dwellers (The Evidence of African Literature).” [in Russian] In: The World of the African Village: The Dynamics of Development of Social Structures and Spiritual Culture. Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pp. 169-186.

Wanjala, Chris & Emilia Ilieva. 1997. “Baswala Kimise of Western Kenya.” – Newsletter, No. 12, Wien 1995-1997. Vienna: International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Commission on Urgent Anthropological Research, p. 35.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1998. “Moyez G. Vassanji. The Gunny Sack, No New Land, Uhuru Street, The Book of Secrets.” (A review) – Egerton Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 150-155.

Ilieva, Emilia. 1999. “Ugandan Literature.” In: Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. New York: St. James Press, pp. 369-371.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15535050-encyclopedia-of-world-literature-in-the-20th-century

Ilieva, Emilia. 2000. Twenty-five entries in: The Companion to African Literatures. Edited by Douglas Killam and Ruth Rowe. Oxford: James Currey, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. They are: “Anduru, Agoro”, p. 23; “Censorship (East Africa)”, p. 59; “Daughter of Mumbi”, p. 76; “Dedan Kimathi”, p. 77; “The Experience”, p. 94; “Going Down River Road”, p. 107; “Kahiga, Samuel”, p. 125; “Kalasanda”, p. 126; “Kimenye, Barbara”, p. 128; “Mwangi, Meja”, p. 169; “Nagenda, John”, p. 171; “Ordeal in the Forest”, p. 304; “Paradise Farm”, p. 209; “Politics and Literature (East Africa)”, p. 220-223; “Prince Kagwema”, p. 230; “Ruheni, Mwangi”, p. 253; “The Seasons of Thomas Tebo”, p. 259; “Seruma, Eneriko”, p. 263; “Tejani, Bahadur”, p. 19; “Vassanji, M(oyez) G.”, p. 292; “Wachira, Godwin”, p. 294; “Waciuma, Charity”, p. 294; “War Literature (East Africa)”, pp. 295-296; “Watene, Kenneth”, p. 298; “Women in Literature (East Africa)”, pp. 301-302. https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847010193/a-companion-to-african-literatures/

Ilieva, Emilia. 2000. “New Trends and Generations in African Literature Today, No. 20. Trenton, N. J.: Africa World Press”. (A review) – Egerton Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 176-179.

Ilieva, Emilia. 2001. “Gatheru, Mugo. A Kenyan Autobiographer.” In: Encyclopedia of Life Writing. Edited by Margaretta Jolly. London and Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Vol. 1, pp. 356-358. https://www.routledge.com/Encyclopedia-of-Life-Writing-Autobiographical-and-Biographical-Forms/Jolly/p/book/9781579582326

Ilieva, Emilia. 2001. “Odinga, Oginga. A Kenyan Autobiographer.” In: Encyclopedia of Life Writing. Op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 670-671. https://www.routledge.com/Encyclopedia-of-Life-Writing-Autobiographical-and-Biographical-Forms/Jolly/p/book/9781579582326

Ilieva, Emilia. 2003. “Introduction and Summary of Proceedings.” In: Selected Papers from the Second International Conference of the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS) (Kenya Chapter). – Egerton Journal, Vol. IV, Nos. 2 & 3, pp. i-xxiv.

Ilieva, Emilia. 2004. “The Growth of Satire in the English-Language Literatures of East Africa.” [in Russian] In: Satire in the Literatures of Asia and Africa. Moscow: Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences, pp. 273-300.

Chemwei, Bernard, Joel K. Kiboss & Emilia Ilieva. 2005. “Effects of Cooperative Learning on Teaching Poetry.” – Thinking Classroom, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 25-33. https://www.rwctic.org/thinking-classroom-2001-2005

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2005. “Idi Amin.” In: Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures in English. Edited by Prem Poddar and David Johnson. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 4-6. https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-a-historical-companion-to-postcolonial-literatures-in-english.html

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2006. “Strategies of Affirming Womanhood in East African Writing.” In: Duh i Duhovnost (Spirit and Spirituality). Sofia: TEMTO, pp. 256-277.

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Roger Kurtz. Nyarloka’s Gift: The Writing of Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye.” (A review) – Research in African Literatures, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 209-211. https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20109489

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “Irele, Abiola F. and Simon Gikandi (eds.). The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature. 2 vols.” (A review) – Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. XXIV, No. 1, pp. 278-283. https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40223369

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye. A Farm Called Kishinev.” – World Literature Today. January – February, pp. 70-71.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40159376

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Cotton, Samuel.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Edited by Gary L. Anderson. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Vol. 1, pp. 396-397. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “Davis, Angela.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 424-427. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Davis, Ossie.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 427. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “DuBois, W. E. B.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 484-486. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Hughes, Langston.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 718-721. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Maathai, Wangari.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 883-884. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Ngugi wa Thiong’o.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 1031-1033. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “Orwell, George.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 1065-1068. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “Ovington, Mary White.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 1070-1071. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Postcolonial Theory.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 1149-1151.https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “Said, Edward.” In: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. Op. cit., Vol. 3, pp. 1251-1254. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/encyclopedia-of-activism-and-social-justice/book228028

Macgoye, Marjorie Oludhe & Emilia Ilieva. 2007. “Face to Face with Wangu wa Makeri.” In: Women Writing Africa. The Eastern Region. Series Editors: Tuzyline J. Allan, Abena P. A. Busia and Florence Howe. New York: The Feminist Press at CUNY, pp. 95-98. https://www.feministpress.org/books-n-z/women-writing-africa-volume-iii

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “A Model Day during the Emergency.” In: Women Writing Africa. The Eastern Region. Op. cit., pp. 237-240. https://www.feministpress.org/books-n-z/women-writing-africa-volume-iii 

Ilieva, Emilia. 2007. “The Retreat.” In: Women Writing Africa. The Eastern Region. Op. cit., pp. 250-251.https://www.feministpress.org/books-n-z/women-writing-africa-volume-iii

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “Learning the Sex Trade.” In: Women Writing Africa. The Eastern Region. Op. cit., pp. 312-315. https://www.feministpress.org/books-n-z/women-writing-africa-volume-iii

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2007. “The Wasting Disease.” In: Women Writing Africa. The Eastern Region. Op. cit., pp. 362-364. https://www.feministpress.org/books-n-z/women-writing-africa-volume-iii

Ilieva, Emilia. 2008. “David Grossman: A Writer’s Commitment to Peace in a Time of Lasting Political Predicament.” In: Daisaku Ikeda and Voices for Peace from Africa. Edited by Henry Indangasi and Masumi O. Hashimoto. Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau, pp. 85-98.

Ilieva, Emilia. 2008. “Celebrating Ngugi wa Thiong’o at Seventy.” – African Writing Online, No. 3. https://www.african-writing.com/hol/emiliailieva.htm

Ilieva, Emilia & Waveney Olembo. (Editors). 2010. When the Sun Goes Down. Nairobi: Longhorn.

Ilieva, Emilia & Lennox Odiemo-Munara. 2011. “Negotiating Dislocated Identities in the Space of Post-Colonial Chaos: Goretti Kyomuhendo’s Waiting.” In: Afropolitanism: Essays on Borders and Spaces in Contemporary African Literature and Folklore. Edited by J. K. S. Makokha and Jennifer Wawrzinek. Amsterdam: Rodopi, pp. 183-203. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10131752.2011.617997?journalCode=racr20

Ilieva, Emilia. 2012. “Teaching Petals of Blood in a Kenyan Classroom.” In: Teaching the Novels of Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Edited by Oliver Lovesey. New York: MLA, pp. 136-146. https://www.mla.org/Publications/Bookstore/Approaches-to-Teaching-World-Literature/Approaches-to-Teaching-the-Works-of-Ngugi-wa-Thiong-o

Ilieva, Emilia. 2012. “Evan Maina Mwangi. Africa Writes Back to Self: Metafiction, Gender, Sexuality.” (A Review) – Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. XXIX, No. 2, pp. 258-261. https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40223403

Kamau-Goro, Nicholas and Emilia V. Ilieva. 2014. “The Novel as an Oral Narrative Performance: The Delegitimisation of the Postcolonial Nation in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Matigari Ma Njiruungi.” – African Literature Today, Vol. 32 (Politics & Social Justice), pp. 7-19. https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847010971/alt-32-politics-and-social-justice-african-literature-today/

Ilieva, Emilia. 2015. “Asma Sayed (ed.). Writing Diaspora: Transnational Memories, Identities and Cultures.” (A Review) – AwaaZ, Vol. 12, Issue 2, pp. 66-68. https://zandgraphics.com/catalog/awaaz-voices-volume-12-issue-2/

Mutunga, Felix, Emilia V. Ilieva and Joseph Walunywa. 2014. “Diasporic Subjectivities and the reconstruction of Self in African Diasporic Fiction.” – Egerton Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Vol. XI, No., pp. 171-193.

Rotich, Robert, Emilia V. Ilieva and Joseph Walunywa. 2015. “The Social Formation of Post-Apartheid South Africa.” – The Journal of Pan African Studies, Vol. 8, No. 9, pp. 132-155.

Ilieva, Emilia and Hillary Chakava. 2016. “East African Publishing and the Academia.” In: Coming of Age: Strides in African Publishing. Essays in Honour of Dr. Henry Chakava @70. Edited by Kiarie Kamau and Kirimi Mitambo. Nairobi: EAEP, pp. 106-128. https://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/coming-of-age-1

Ilieva, Emilia. 2018. “Bricklayer & Architect of a World to Come.” In: Ngugi: Reflections on His Life and Writing. Edited by Simon Gikandi & Ndirangu Wachanga. Suffolk & Rochester: James Currey, pp. 133-134. https://www.mathaga.com/products/ngugi-reflections-on-his-writing-by-simon-gikandi-ndirangu-wachanga

CONFERENCES & INVITED PRESENTATIONS

1994, September 20. “Africanistics in Russia: The Study of African Literature and Related Disciplines.” A public lecture delivered at Egerton University.

1994, December 4-9. (with Chris Wanjala). “The Modernisation of Cultural Heritage in East African Societies.” A paper presented at the Belgian-East African Research Co-operation (BEARCO) conference, Elburgon.

1995, April 29-30. “The Evolution of Historical Consciousness in Afro-Asian Writing in East Africa.” Paper presented at the Historical Association of Kenya Symposium, “Development in Africa since the 1960s.” University of Eastern Africa, Baraton.

1995, June 18-23. “The African ‘Village Novel’: A Literary Phenomenon and a Testimony of Time.” Paper presented at the conference “Breaking Boundaries: Beyond the Land of Cush. New Critical Encounters with Languages and Literatures of Sub-Saharan Africa.” Tel Aviv University, Israel.

1995, August 5-6. “What Is Wrong with the Press Campaigns against the Humanities?” Paper presented at the Historical Association of Kenya Symposium, “The Future of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Africa.” Egerton University, Njoro.

1995, September 18. “Teaching The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol.” Lecture delivered at a Nakuru Zone English Language Teaching Course for Secondary School Teachers of English, organised by the British Council, Ukarimu Pastoral Centre, Molo.

1996, August 22-24. “A Writer’s Perception of Freedom: The Unique Case of Dambudzo Marechera.” Paper presented at the Writers’ Association of Kenya Workshop on Democracy, University of Nairobi.

1997, May 9-10. “We Must Not Let the Aggressive Spread of Misconceptions Blind Our Students to the True Role of the Humanities.” Paper presented at the seminar on “The Teaching of Literature in the University in East Africa,” Egerton University.

1997, July 11. Participated in the Conference on Commonwealth Literature, “The Colony Writes Back,” organised by the British Council and the Kenya Oral Literature Association. Nairobi.

1997, November 29 – December 7 (with Chris Wanjala), “Khuswala Kumuse of Western Kenya: A Culturally Based Institution and a Developmental Strategy.” Paper presented at the Symposium on “Culture and Development”, organised by The Kenya Drama/Theatre and Education Association. Nairobi.

1998, December 6-11. Participated in the East African Women Writers and Publishers Symposium, Kisumu.

1999, August 20-21. “Imagination as Cognition: The Logic of Myth.” Paper presented at the Seminar on “The Authority of Memory in Narrative,” organised by the International Society of Folklore Narrative Research (Kenya Chapter). Nairobi.

1999, December 9-10. Participated in the Conference on “Daisaku Ikeda’s Works,” organised by the Writers Association of Kenya. Nairobi.

2000, March 10-11. “Women Involved in Constitution Making: Examples from Three Centuries.” Paper presented at the First Academicians’ Conference on “Gender and Constitution Making,” organised by the Kenya Oral Literature Association     and the Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development, Nairobi.

2000, April 17-20. “Africa’s Higher Education Problems Assessed from Without.” Paper presented at the National Conference on Higher Education for Development in Kenya, Kenyatta University. Nairobi.

2000, November 15-17. Participated in the First International Conference of the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS) (Kenya Chapter), Moi University.

2001, March 8-10. “The Origins and Meaning of Literary Prizes.” Paper presented at the Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium on “Canonisation or Displacement of Identities,” organised by the Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Laikipia College Campus, Egerton University.

2001, July 2-4. Participated in the British Institute in Eastern Africa Workshop “The Urban Experiences in Eastern Africa: 18th Century to the 1980s.” Nairobi.

2001, September 17-19. Participated in the Second International Conference of the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS) (Kenya Chapter), Egerton University.

2002, March 20-21. Participation in a Writers’ Workshop, organised by the British Council, Nairobi.

2002, July 19. “Misreading and Misinterpretation of Texts: An Illustration.” Paper presented at a Seminar on “Literary Theory and Criticism: Practice and Application.” organised by the Department of Literature, Egerton University.

2002, September 26. “Harnessing the African Voice: The Role of the African Writers Series in Shaping African Literature.” Keynote address at the 5th Nairobi International Book Fair.

2003, October 2. “Highlights of the UNDP Human Development Report 2003.” Main paper delivered at the regional launching of the 2003 UNDP Human Development Report at Egerton University.

2003, October 13-17. “Cases and Possible ‘Patterns’ for Women Writers in East Africa.” Paper presented at a Conference on “Women in Focus through Literature and Art.” organised by the French Cultural Centre, Nairobi.

2004, November 3. Participated in Literature Department Seminar “African Literature through the Ages”.

2005, January 19-22. “Women Writing in East Africa: Two Trends in Redefining Authority and Power.” Paper presented at a Conference on Poetics and Politics of African Gender Research.” organised by The Nordic Africa Institute and the University of the Western Cape, University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

2005, January 25. “The Present State of East African Writing by Women.” An invited lecture given in the Department of African Literatures at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

2005, September 23. “The Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature 2005: A View of the Literary State of the Nation.” Speech delivered at the awarding ceremony for the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature 2005, Sarit Centre, Nairobi.

2006, July 17-21. (with Lennox Odiemo-Munara). “The Generation of Types of Knowledge: Researching for International Reference Works in the Arts and the Humanities.” Paper presented at Egerton University Research Week and International Conference.

2007, September 29. “A Testimony to the Flowering of a National Literature.” Speech delivered at the awarding ceremony for the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature 2007, Sarit Centre, Nairobi.

2008, September 16-18. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2009, September 15-17. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2009, August 5. Chief Guest’s Speech at the launching of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Re- membering Africa. (Nairobi: EAEP, 2009).

2010, September 22-24. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2011, September 21-23. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2011, September 30. Participated in a Gayatri Spivak Colloquium at the University of Nairobi.

2011, October 25-26. Participated in Nairobi International Film Festival and Wole Soyinka conducted Workshop.

2012, September 26-28. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2013, April 27. “Chinua Achebe’s Place in the African Cultural Pantheon.” Paper presented at a colloquium “Reflections on Chinua Achebe.” University of Nairobi.

2014, January 27. “Reading a Moral Stance in(to) M. G. Vassanji’s The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.” Paper presented at a colloquium “Reflections on Moyez Vassanji.” University of Nairobi.

2014, March 26-28. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2014, July 15. “Marjorie Macgoye’s Triumph in Rebmann.” Remarks at the Launch of Rebmann: A Novel by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye. All Saints’ Cathedral, Nairobi.

2015, March 25-27. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2016, March 30 – April 1. Participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2017, March 29-31. Was a discussant of Prof. Ganesh Devy’s keynote address in the Humanities; and participated in discussions in Egerton University’s Research Week and International Conference.

2020, October 28-29. Participated in the 3rd Biennial Conference on the State of Higher Education in Kenya on the theme “Technology and Quality of University Education in an Age of Disruption."

2022, April 8. “Launching Elizabeth Orchardson-Mazrui’s Willy Munyoki Mutunga of Kenya: Our Hero of Justice”, Guest Speaker’s paper, Cheche Bookshop, Nairobi.

2024, March 19-21.  Partricipated in the 15th Biennial International Conference "Research for Innovative Solutions in the 21st Century", Egerton University.

TEACHING AREAS

Undergraduate:

East African Literature

European Literature I (From Classical Greek to the Age of Enlightenment

European Literature II (19th and 20th Centuries)

Literature and Gender

African American Literature

Children's Literature

Research Methods

Postgraduate:

Major Writers of the World

Research and Thesis Writing

Women’s Writing.

POSTGRADUATE SUPERVISION
MASTERS LEVEL :

Bernard Chemwei (with Dr. Joel K. Kiboss)

“Effects of Co-operative Learning on Students’ Achievement and Attitudes towards Poetry Learning in Secondary Schools of Baringo District, Kenya”. Graduated June 2004.

 

Joseph Lennox Odiemo (with Dr. Fugich Wako)

“Women’s Engagement with Power/Authority in the Fiction of Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, Mary Okurut and Elieshi Lema”. Graduated July 2013.

 

Felix Mutunga Ndaka (with Dr. Joseph Walunywa)

“Diasporic Experience and Identities in Africa Fiction”. Graduated December 2013.

 

Robert Rotich (with Dr. Joseph Walunywa)

“Representation of Social Formation in Post-Apartheid South African Literature”. Graduated December 2015.

 

Stephen Muthoka Mutie (with Dr. Joseph Walunywa)

“The Writings of East African Nationalist Leaders as Sites of Representation of Their Identities”. Graduated December 2015.

 

Douglas Abugah Mokaya.  (with Dr. Joseph Walunywa)

“Representations of the Asian Community in the East African Diaspora in the Works of M. G. Vassanji and Neera Kapur-Dromson”.

 

Micah Bumbe Were (with Dr. Joseph Walunywa)

“Old and New African Women’s Writing: A Comparative Analysis of Mariama Ba, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie”.

 

Joyce Wanjiku Wachirah (with Dr. Joseph Walunywa)

“The Confluence of African and European Literatures: Genetic Links between the Poetry of Jared Angira and John Clare”.

Candidate ecentually graduated at Laikipia University in 2023.

 

Richard Komen (with Prof. Fugich Wako)

“Culture and Masculinity in the Work of Henry ole Kulet”.

 

Roselyn A. Otieno (with Prof. Fugich Wako)

“An Investigation into the Form, Content and Performance of Abasuba Circumcision Songs”.

 

Ivy Caroline Njeri Kimani (with Dr. D. G. Kweya)

“Revolutionary Returns In The Novels Of Ayi  Kwei Armah”.

PhD. LEVEL :

N. I. Kamau (with Prof. Carol Sicherman)

“Ngugi wa Thiong’o: The Poetics of Language and the Quest for a Socially Relevant Aesthetic Ideology”. Graduated July 2013.

 

Robert Rotich (AD18/40009/16) (with Dr. D. G. Kweya and Prof. James Ogude)

“Ethics of the Dialogic Self: Multivocality in Recent Post-Apartheid South African Literature”.

 

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