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Dr. Wafula Yenjela

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Category: School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Dr Wafula YenjelaEmail: dwafula16@gmail.com / dyenjela@seku.ac.ke
Address: South Eastern Kenya University, School of Education, Humanities & Social Sciences, P. O. Box 170-90200, Kitui, Kenya.

Profile
Wafula Yenjela holds a PhD in English Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, graduated 15 March 2017. Title of thesis: “Narrated Histories in Selected Kenyan Novels, 1963-2013” available at http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/101185. He was supervised by Prof Grace Musila (Grace.Musila@wits.ac.za) then based at Department of EnglishStudies, Stellenbosch University, and Dr Godwin Siundu (godwins57@gmail.com) of the Literature Department, University of Nairobi. He also holds a Master of Arts in Literature, University of Nairobi, graduated Dec 2013 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Linguistics/Literature), University of Nairobi, graduated Dec 2009. Yenjela is a Lecturer at South Eastern Kenya University, Kitui, Kenya from August 2017 to date. He held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Department of English Studies, Stellenbosch University from March 2017 to August 2017. From Jan. 2012 to Dec 2013, he was a Researcher in the Ford Foundation project titledBiographies of Women in Kenyan Public Spaces, headed by Prof George Gona, History Department, University of Nairobi.

Publications

  1. ‘‘The Torn Womb.’’ Short story in Mwangaza, Journal of Literature Issue 4-5, 2004, pp.36-41
  2. ‘‘Wandering Sparrows.’’ Short story in The East African, 25 August 2018
  3. ‘‘Beautiful Sizwe’s Shoes.’’ Short story in The East African, 6 July 2019
  4. Poetry: ‘‘Vanishing Roots,’’ ‘‘A Dirge for Sandaal,’’ ‘‘Thin Tears.’’The Wagon Magazine, Sept 2017, pp. 39-42
  5. ‘‘I Wept in My Dreams’’, Short Story in The East African, 8 Dec 2019
  6. ‘‘The Lavender Hill Mercenaries’’, Short story in The East African, 22 Dec 2019
  7. ‘‘The Return of Amanda’’, Short Story in The Kalahari Review
  8. ‘‘Film and Restoration of Ruined Humanity: Judy Kibinge’sSomething Necessary’’ in Enhancing Creativity for Youth Empowerment and Community Development, edited by Emily Achieng Akuno, Simon Peter Otieno, & Rachael Diang, Feb 7-8 2019, pp. 89-92.
  9. “Rethinking Memory in Valerie Cuthbert’s The Great Siege of Fort Jesus.” Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, Vol. 1 Issue 2 (2014), pp. 117-129
  10. “Young Women’s Pathways to Prison: A Critique of Selected Kenyan Prison Documentaries.” Agenda, Vol 29 Issue 4, (2015), pp. 135-145.
  11. “Invoking Memories of Legendary African Women: A Reading of Rocha Chimera’s Trilogy Siri Sirini.” Pathways to African Feminisms and Development, Vol. 1 Issue 3 (2015), pp. 42-56.
  12. “Novelistic Dedications as Memoir: The Moral-Political Imagination of Katama Mkangi.” Oxford Research in English Journal, Issue 5 (Summer 2017), pp. 73-91.
  13. “Witnessing and Memory: Representations of School Tragedies in Kenya.” Journal of the African Literature Association, Vol. 11 Issue 3 (2017), pp. 355-370
  14. ‘‘Anxieties of Mixed-raceness in Kenya: Perspectives from Music, Media, and Novelistic Representations.’’ Journal of the African Literature Association, Vol. 13 Issue 2 (2019), pp. 231-254
  15. ‘‘The Nairobi Prostitution Histories: Perspectives from Kenyan Novels.’’ Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, Vol. 6, Issue 1
  16. ‘‘Revisiting Conquest in Swahili Classical Epics.’’ Critical African Studies, Vol. 12
  17. “Mother-in-Law” Soap Opera: Redefining the Mother-in-Law, Redesigning the Kenyan Nation’’ in Representations of the Mother-in-Law in Literature, Film, Drama and Television. Edited by Jo Parnell, Published by Lexington Books.
  18. “Sycophants in a Cannibal State: Kenya in Ngugi waThiong’o’sWizard of the Crow (2006)’” in Cultural Archives of Atrocity: Essays on the Protest Tradition in Kenyan Culture and Society. Edited by Columba Muriuki, Charles Kebaya, and JKS Makokha, Published by Taylor & Francis Group, May 2019
  19. ‘‘Restorying Kenya: The Mau Mau War Counter-Narratives’’ in The Routledge Handbook of Counter-Narrives, Edited by Marianne Wolff Lundolt&KlarissaLueg London: Routledge Books (forthcoming)
  20. “The Bride’s Agency: East African Novelistic and Dramatic Imaginaries” in The Bride in the Cultural Imagination: Screen, Stage and Literary Productions Edited by Jo Parnell,published by Lexington Books(forthcoming).
  21. “The Distinguished Academic Fox,” Kalahari Review. June 19, 2020
  22. “Writing Mortality,” Kalahari Review. June 30, 2020
  23. “Rethinking Literature: My Personal Essays on a Troubled Discipline (Henry Indangasi)”. Tydskrif Vir Letterkunde, vol. 58, no. 1, June 2021, pp. 169-71, doi:10.17159/tl.v58i1.9531
  24. “Against White Supremacism: Whistle Blower Kylie Thomas and Open Stellenbosch Movement.” Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, Vol. 40 No.2 (2021), pp. 199-211
  25. “World War Trauma: Lake Victoria Basin Women Novelists’ Reflections.” Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, Vol. 0 Issue 0(2022), pp. 1-21
  26. ‘‘Restorying Kenya: The Mau Mau War Counter-Narratives.’’ In The Routledge Handbook of Counter-Narrives, Edited by Klarissa Lueg & Marianne Wolff Lundolt, London: Routledge Books, 2020.
  27. “The Bride’s Agency: East African Novelistic and Dramatic Imaginaries” in The Bride in the Cultural Imagination: Screen, Stage and Literary Productions. Lexington: Lexington Books, 2021. Edited by Jo Parnell.

Conferences

  1. “Rewriting Socialism: Navigating the Swahili Novel Half a Century after Colonialism.”Paper presented at East Africa at 50: A celebration of Histories and Futures. University of Nairobi, Kenya. 10-12 Sept. 2013
  2. “Writing Memory and Trauma in The Great Siege of Fort Jesus: An historical novel by Valerie Cuthbert.” Paper presented at the Researching African Literature Conference. PwaniUniversity, Kilifi, Kenya. 11 - 13 Dec. 2014
  3. “Inscribing the Moral-Political Self into a Hostile World: A Reading of Tabaruku, ‘Dedication,’ in KatamaMkangi’sWalenisi (1995) and Ukiwa (1975)”. Paper presented at 18thInterim Conference of African Language Association of Southern Africa (ALASA). Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia. (29th June-1 st July 2016).
  4. “Nation and Human Destiny: Reading Contestations of Mau Mau Histories in Kenya in Yvonne Owuor’sDust (2013).” Paper presented at the Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS). Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa. (10-15 July 2016).
  5. “World Wars and Trauma: Lake Victoria Basin Women Novelists’ Reflections.”Paper presented during the Cartographies of War and Peace in Eastern Africa. University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (24th – 26th August, 2017)
  6. ‘‘A Critique of Achebe’s Home and Exile and other Essays’’ at the Chinua Achebe Colloquiuum—Conversations About Achebe’s Literary Legacy at British Institute of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, 28 Sept 2018.
  7. ‘‘Revisiting Conquest in Classical Swahili War Epics’’ paper presented at Conference on the Role of Literature: Teaching Critical Thinking, held at University of Nairobi, 24th to 26th Oct 2018.
  8. ‘‘Film and Restoration of Ruined Humanity: Judy Kibinge’s Something Necessary.’’ Enhancing Creativity for Youth Empowerment and Community Development Conference, Pan-AfricSarova Hotel, Nairobi (Feb 7-8 2019)
  9. ‘‘Artist the Ruler: Revisiting the Power of Stories.’’ Paper presented at Okotp’Bitek Memorial Symposium, Makerere Institute of Social Research, Kampala, Uganda (5 April 2019)
  10. “Representations of Familial Atrocities in Kenyan Documentary.” Paper presented at Symposium on Kenyan Film and Cinema on 4-6 Nov 2020, at Sirikwa Hotel, Eldoret, Kenya.

Grants and awards

  1. Masters Scholarship funded by Board of Postgraduate Studies (BPS), University of Nairobi, 2011-2013.
  2. Ford Foundation grant on project titled Women in Public Spaces, 2012.
  3. PhD Scholarship funded by Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies (STIAS), 2014-2016.
  4. Conference Travel Grant awarded by Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), 4-6 April 2019.
  5. British Institute of Eastern Africa (BIEA) Thematic Grant, on theme Retelling the Past. Oct 2020.
  6. Conference Travel Grant awarded by Moi University African Cluster Centre (MUACC), 4-6 Nov 2020.

Postgraduate supervision

  1. Simaloy Wanjiru Wainaina, Reg No. 1028742. Program: MA (Literature). Thesis title: ‘‘The African Daughter as Portrayed in the Short Story of Lesley NnekahArimah’’. Status: Completed. University: The Catholic University of Eastern Africa. 2nd supervisor (1st supervisor—Dr Seline Oketch)
  2. John MahinduAdala, Reg No. LAL/G/06/2015. Program: MA (Literature). Thesis Title: “Construction of Self and Society in Selected Kenyan Autobiographies”. Status: Ongoing. University: Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. 2nd supervisor (1st supervisor: Dr Remmy Shiundu)
  3. Vincent Odhiambo Oduor, Reg No: Lit/H/02/2015. Program: PhD in Literature. Thesis title: ‘‘Fragmented Cultural and Social Youth Identities in Selected Kenyan Youth Literature.’’ Status: Ongoing. University: Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. 2nd supervisor (1st supervisor: Dr Jairus Omuteche)
    Postgraduate Examination
  4. Catherine Mutei Mbusya, MA (Kiswahili). Thesis title: ‘‘Mielekeo ya Wanafunzi wa Shule za Upili Kuhusu Methali Kinzani: Uchunguzi Katika Kata ya Kitui Mjini, Kauntiya Kitui, Kenya’’. Examined March 2019.

Referees
Professor DH Kiiru, Department of Literature, University of Nairobi
Email: dhkiiru@uonbi.ac.ke
Dr Godwin Siundu, Department of Literature University of Nairobi
Email: godwins57@gmail.com
Professor Peter Wasamba, Dean of Arts, University of Nairobi.
Email: pwasamba@uonbi.ac.ke