Charles Cantalupo, Distinguished Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and African Studies, is currently featured on the homepage of Warscapes, an independent online magazine that focuses on current world conflicts.
The feature is a recorded video of an intimate conversation between Cantalupo and Ng?g? wa Thiong'o that was held on April 24 as part of the Warscapes Public Lecture Series and New School's Humanities Action Lab, titled, "African Literature...Says Who? The Last 50 Years with Ng?g? wa Thiong'o.
They discussed African literature and its different traditions in African and European languages, including oral and written. Cantalupo and Ngugi have a long history of working together. In 1994, Cantalupo organized a conference on Ngugi at Penn State Berks, which was the largest conference ever held on African writer. In 2000, they teamed up again to organize the conference, Against All Odds: African languages and literatures into the 21st Century, which took place in Asmara, Eritrea, where they co-authored the historic Asmara Declaration.
Ng?g? wa Thiong'o was born in Kenya, and is the author of more major works of fiction, nonfiction, and drama than any African writer. 2014 was the 50th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking first novel, "Weep Not, Child." Since then, he has published over 30 other works in English and his native language, Gikuyu.
The video can be viewed directly at: https://vimeo.com/126558769.