In our continuing look back at the year, we talk about those who passed away in 2021.
We have been remembering those who ended their journey as elders and became literary ancestors in our annual recap and this year is no different. Many of those who have produced the work that nourished us as a people and as a literary community gave their leave and went into the afterlife. You can check out reporting on “Authors & Translators Who Left Us in 2021” from our friends at Arablit.org by clicking here. Here is a list of those who passed away in 2021 based on our reporting here at JamesMurua.com.
Egyptian author, activist, and physician Nawal El-Saadawi
Kenyan novelist Henry Ole Kulet
US author, professor, feminist scholar bell hooks
South African poet, children’s book writer, and anti-apartheid struggle icon Lindiwe Mabuza
Cote D’Ivoire novelist and short story writer Isaïe Biton Koulibaly
South African novelist Wilbur Smith
Egyptian Theater director and professor of directing Mahmoud El Lozy
Swahili-language poet, lyricist, and writer Haji Gora Haji
South African academic Prof Bhekizizwe Peterson
Kenyan novelist Charles Mangua
Jamaican dub poet and storyteller Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze
US American children’s book and biography author and poet Eloise Greenfield
May they all rest in peace.
