In the mid-1960s, Grace Ogot was the first woman writer to begin publishing her writing in Kenya. Now nearly forty years later, numerous women write in Kenya about issues that are pertinent to women in contemporary African life. Who are these writers and what are the themes in which they are most deeply engaged? How do their themes relate to issues confronting Kenyan women's lives today? How are they different from Ogot? How are they similar?

After reading Ogot's "The Green Leaves," find other African women writers who were publishing short stories during the period just after independence in the 1960s, such as Flora Nwapa of Nigeria and Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana. Despite the differences in cultural background and nationality, try to draw comparisons among these women writers in terms of themes they address that are related to gender roles...