Library Weekly

The ASCL's Library Weekly is our library’s weekly spotlight on African people and events. Inspired by the SciHiBlog, this service is based on information retrieved from Wikipedia and Wikidata and is completed with selected titles from the ASCL Library Catalogue. 

N.B. The weeklies are not updated and reflect the state of information at a given point in time.

Library Weekly archive

Asenath Bole Odaga

Asenath Bole Odaga (Source: English Wikipedia)On 1 December 2014, Kenyan publisher and writer Asenath Bole Odaga died in Kisumu, Kenya at the age of 77. Odaga promoted literature in Kenyan languages and the study of oral literature by writing in Luo and co-authoring a guide to oral literature for students.
 
Born in Rarieda, Kenya, on 5 July 1938, Asenath Bole Odaga was educated at Alliance Girls High School and University of Nairobi. At the University of Nairobi, Odaga submitted a thesis for the Master of Arts degree: Educational Values of "Sigendeni Luo": The Kenya Luo Oral Narratives.
 
In 1982, Odaga founded Lake Publishers, becoming the first female publisher in Kenya. She would later open the Thu-Thinda bookstore in Kisumu. Odaga founded the Kenya Women Literature Group in 1986, with the intention of developing works in Kenyan languages by and for women.[
 
Odaga also wrote books for children, saying: "I thought that children should have something to read about their own background and the other children they know, real African heroes with whom they can identify". These stories often focus on the daily life of children.
 
Odaga was listed by the Daily Nation as one of the writers having the most impact on Kenyan society.
 
(Source: Wikipedia, accessed on 27 November 2023)
 

Selected publications

Female characters’ resistance to masculine stereotypes in Asenath Odaga’s selected novels / Moses Okea Sigera. - Thesis, Rongo University 2021

Women in African Publishing and the Book Trade: A Series of Profiles / Hans M. Zell.
In: African book publishing record, 2021, vol.47 (1), p.8-43

Women & activism : Women Writers Conference, Harare, 29-30 July 1999 / Zimbabwe International Book Fair Trust (Harare). - Harare : Zimbabwe International Book Fair Trust [etc.], cop. 2000

Endless road / A.B. Ogada. - Kisumu : Lake Publishers, 1996

Luo sayings A.B. Ogada. - Kisumu, Kenya : Lake Publishers, 1995, cop.1994

Kenyan publishers in vernacular languages: Gikuyu, Kikamba and Dholuo / Cristina Pugliese. -
In: Africa : rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione, 1995, a. 49, n. 2, p. 250-259

Basic English-Luo words and phrases / A.B. Ogada. - Kisumu : Lake Publishers, 1993

Simbi nyaima / A.B. Ogada. - Kisumu : Lake Publishers, 1993

Between the years / A.B. Ogada. - Kisumu : Lake Publishers & Enterprises, cop.1987

Yesterday's today : the study of oral literature /  A.B. Ogada. - Kisumu : Lake, 1984

See also Asenath Bole Odaga's website.

Timeline of Kenyan women writers via DBpedia and Wikidata

Posted on 27 November 2023, last modified on 28 November 2023

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Posted on 11 January 2021, last modified on 17 October 2023