As one of modern African writers, Okang'a Ooko is a fine artist, a novelist and a multidisciplinary creative who epitomizes a new shift in African storytelling. He graduated from the Technical University Kenya (then Kenya Polytechnic), where he studied graphic design and communication. He later studied product design at the Housing and Building Research Institut at Wageningen University, Holland, and worked for a decade as a product development designer in the SME sector.

To date, his books are mostly set in Kenya and are often characterized by several recurring themes that explore the complexities of modern African society, culture, and identity. Some of the key themes in his writing—and ones that matter to him dearly—include history, pop culture (especially music), love and danger, politics, human greed, power and control, business (especially design, marketing and advertising), art and culture, corruption, religion, crime and punishment, self-development as well as death and mortality. At his best, his works are mostly character-driven modern stories that evoke a sense of longing for the past while grappling with the uncertainties of the present and future, wrapped in emotional reflection. Many times, his characters are misfits with existential fears that often drive them to the fringes of society. But history remains a major theme in his works.

In his new novel, Kisumo, for instance, the weight of history, from the 1969 Kisumu massacre to the post-Independence era of corruption and oppression, history continues to regurgitate its trauma upon ordinary Kisumuans. These events deeply influence their lives, stripping them of their identity and leaving scars that time struggles to heal. The relentless cycle of injustice transforms many into societal misfits and, hence, rebels who challenge the very systems that marginalized them. Obviously, he is one of the finest African authors to read.

BACKGROUND

Ooko was raised in Kisumu, in Kenya. He has been writing since childhood when his mother took him to the local library in his hometown of Kisumu, in Kisumu County, Kenya, to keep him out of the company of bad boys. As a serial daydreamer, it was worthwhile to finally get the stories on paper when he started writing full-time in retirement in 2017. He has not looked back since. He believes current African issues (pop culture, politics, business, corruption) make dramatic stories with or without a literary bent, and he knows there is a huge potential to create intriguing stories around these themes. In addition to being a prolific writer, he is a painter—working with oil and pastels—and an acclaimed graphic designer and music enthusiast.

He lives the life of an artist, and he has a broad view of what constitutes an artist or creative person. For art is his sphere of influence. Art is above ordinary mortality as artistic works outlive the lives of artists (their creators) and people.