UT’s Ndigirigi Named President of African Literature Association
Professor Gichingiri Ndigirigi, Department of English, was named president of the African Literature Association (ALA) at the group’s 2024 conference, held in May in Louisville, Kentucky. In this role, he will work with the ALA’s executive committee to guide the association’s activities in 2024–2025.
“I am particularly interested in developing collaborations with Africa-based academics and the executive committee is supporting that goal,” said Ndigirigi
This leadership role follows more than 20 years of active membership in the ALA, including his most recent role as vice-president. He also served on the ALA’s executive committee, as a member of its human rights committee, and as the liaison for the association’s nine caucuses in the executive committee. Ndigirigi chaired panels during annual conferences and moderated the discussion following Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s keynote address in 2022. As vice-president, he oversaw the annual elections and chaired the awards committee that reviewed scholarly publications by members in 2023.
“The competition for the various awards was very intense, with the Book of the Year Award drawing seven books published by the most prestigious academic presses in the US,” he said.
This year’s conference was the ALA’s 49th annual meeting, following the 2023 meeting held at UT.
“The last conference was the second in-person conference post-Covid,” said Ndigirigi.
“It was therefore slightly larger than the one I hosted at UT in 2023, which was attended by scholars from 150 major universities in the US, Canada, and Britain and about 30 from Africa. The keynote speaker at the UT conference was Professor Simon Gikandi of Princeton University, one of the most prominent scholars of African, Caribbean and postcolonial literatures. Members compare the annual conference to a family reunion, and both conferences were reinvigorating gatherings.”
Ndigirigi was named the president during the closing banquet at this year’s conference. Addressing his colleagues there was a high point for him.
“I was able to share some thoughts with the members about what we are doing right, improvements that we need to make, and some thoughts on the 2026 conference for which I will serve as chair of the organizing committee,” he said.
The association will go abroad for its 50th annual meeting next year at the University of Nairobi.
“That will make it easier for Africa-based scholars to join in a major anniversary celebration and rebuilding effort,” said Ndigirigi. “The ALA has not held a conference in Africa since 2014, and there is great interest in the Nairobi conference already.”
By Randall Brown