‘Nyarloka’ has rested, but her legacy as matriarch of Kenyan literature lives on

Most famous writers have giant-sized egos, perhaps because writers tend to be deeply insecure people and, as we know, egotism and insecurity are two sides of the same coin.

Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, who died last week and who has often been described as the “grand matriarch of Kenyan literature”, was not such a writer.

In fact, she was disarmingly unassuming and modest despite her many books and poems, including Coming to Birth, which won the Sinclair Prize, Murder in Majengo, Song of Nyarloka, and Homing In.

Marjorie, also known by her Luo name “Nyarloka”, which means “a daughter from abroad”, left England and came to Kenya in the 1950s to work as a bookseller with the Church Missionary Society.

She stayed on in Kenya after marrying Daniel Oludhe Macgoye, who worked in the Ministry of Health.

At a time when European writers were writing about their exotic adventures in Africa, Marjorie was writing stories about ordinary Kenyans’ lives and struggles.

Critics say that her books had a distinctly Luo sensibility derived from her experiences of being married into a Luo family and community.

In her books, she also explored the many challenges Kenyan women face and how they negotiate tradition with modernisation.

Ironically, she was often derided by Kenya’s literary establishment for not being Kenyan enough.

In Nyarloka’s Gift, a biography of the writer, Roger Kurtz describes Marjorie as a Kenyan writer but one who cannot be easily pigeonholed.

SO ESSENTRIC

She was neither Kenyan nor Luo in the same way that Grace Ogot was, for instance.

Nor did she belong to the white Kenyan community.

On the contrary, she consciously rejected the privileges that come with being white in a place like Kenya.

According to Kurtz, Marjorie played a uniquely influential role in Kenya’s literary history, thanks in part to her tenacious and deeply felt commitment to living a life that was consistent with her moral vision.

Marjorie was a committed Christian and socialist and a profoundly intellectual writer who shunned the trappings of power, wealth, and celebrity.

The most remarkable aspect of Marjorie’s legacy, he says, is that “a woman who… lived so incongruously, so decidedly out of sync with her place and time…could have such a profound impact on the literature of Kenya, her adopted homeland”.

I will end by quoting lines from a poem by Marjorie: Now that the darkness has come, let the pillar of fire/take over from cloud, re-illuminating itself/as I watch from the sidelines.

Rest in peace, Marjorie.
*****

I have been through many fire drills over the course of my life.

From what I remember, a notice is sent to everyone before any drill is to take place, advising them on what to do in case of a fire.

Usually, people are instructed to walk (not run) slowly but deliberately to the nearest exit.

The idea behind a drill is to prevent a stampede that could lead to more deaths during a disaster or emergency and to ensure that people know the best and safest route out of a potentially dangerous situation.

Not once during those drills was an actual fire lit.

So what prompted the highly irresponsible idiots who organised a drill at Strathmore University to send in a man dressed as an armed Al-Shabaab terrorist when students had received no prior notice or even training on what to do in case a terrorist attack takes place?

COSTLY IRRESPONSIBILITY

Given that the horrific Garissa University College attack is still fresh in our minds, did the planners of this drill really believe that the students at Strathmore would not panic and jump out of windows when they heard gunshots?

Or maybe they really did expect some casualties as a result of the drill because the team from the Lang’ata police boss’s office, which carried out the drill, went to the university with ambulances in tow.

One woman has died and 30 people have been injured, some with broken limbs, because of this poorly planned drill.

Apparently, such drills are becoming common at university campuses across the country and are sending many students to hospital.

These drills should be banned until safer and better ways are found to carry them out.