Rebeka Njau

Background

She was born in Kanyariri in the Kiambu district, attended high school in Nairobi and studied education at Makerere University College in Uganda.

Career

Her one act play The Scar (1965), which condemns female genital mutilation, was first published in the journal Transition in 1963 and is considered to be the first play written by a Kenyan woman. Her play In the Round was performed in 1964 and was banned by the Ugandan government. Njau also writes under the name Marina Gashe.

Achievements

• She was a founder of Nairobi Girls Secondary School and served as headmistress from 1965 to 1966. Her first novel Alone with the Fig Tree was rewritten as Ripples in the Pool (1975), which was awarded the East Africa Writing Committee Prize.