Okang’a Ooko is the author of Inherited Danger, (stories), and five mainstream novels, including Bengaman, When You Sing To The Fishes, Hunter & Gatherer The New Girl In Mombasa and the latest, Wayward Eastlanders, mostly vivid accounts of scandalous vices, love and danger, history and music, human folly, power games, and peopled by men and women struggling to succeed in the new African renaissance. He writes thrilling and intriguing character-driven fiction based on African characters and situations. His work presents a compelling narrative voice and a new way of seeing the world.
Ooko is a very ambitious and hardworking writer for this generation. His six Must-Read cavalier novels are in categories that matter to him: history, politics, pop culture (especially music), love-and-danger, business, corruption, true crime, and self-development. Ooko epitomizes a new shift in African fiction and his books are mostly set in Kenya. He loves to dispel the myth that Africans don’t read, and incredible readers who have stumbled upon his books have liked them tremendously. He has been writing since childhood when his mother took him to the local library in his hometown of Kisumu to keep him out of the company of bad boys. As a serial daydreamer, it was nice 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 an artist, an acclaimed graphic designer and musician. He lives the life of an artist. He worked in the publishing industry as a book interior designer, manager of content developers, and book cover designer for fiction and non-fiction.
He was born and raised in Kisumu, in Kenya. He lives in Nairobi with his wife and four children, and divides his time between Nairobi and Mbita in Homa Bay County. When he isn’t reading or writing engaging stories, he’s probably having spirited and bawdy convos about music with windblown bengamen in Migori and Homa Bay, and moonlighting in their shows, and watching edgy black comedy on Netflix. In his spare time, he creates graphic arts, plays the guitar and draws things. You can connect with Ooko on Facebook at facebook.com/okangaooko/.
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Novels, short stories & Other Writings
| October 2023 | Wayward Eastlanders, novel |
| June 2022 | The New Girl In Mombasa, novel |
| April 2020 | Hunter and Gatherer, novel |
| December 2019 | When You Sing To the Fishes, novel |
| July 2018 | Bengaman, novel |
| October 2017 | Inherited Danger, eight stories |
| January 2016 | Happy 9th Birthday, horror novella |
| June 2013 | Kiss Ya Bangongi, short story |
| July 2011 | Rude Awakening, short story |
| July 2009 | First and Second Rhythm Guitars in an Old Benga Song, short novella |
| October 2006 | Why No One Knows Where Death Lives Papyrus Artists Organisation, kids short story, audio podcast |
| 2005 | Infinity Eulogy for my friend Martin Owino, Hawi Magazine Volume I, Lake Victoria Writers' Group, poem |
| August 2004 | Moni Afinda Published in Eve Magazine, short story |
| June 2004 | Innocents Longings, Dangerous Fulfilement First published in www.voicenet.org, poem |
| May 2002 | The Proposal Published in Black Voices Online, short story |
| 2001 | Adventurer Published in Lady magazine, short story |
| 1998 | Pollution Control of Small –Scale Metal Industries In Nairobi, Final Report of Small –scale Metal Industries Environmental Pollution In Kenya , research study for International Labour Organisation (ILO) |
| May 1997 | Scrap Metal Recycling, A product development study of Kamukunji Jua Kali Sector Published by the Undugu Society of Kenya research paper |
| November 1996 | Kichorochoro Published in Flash, newsletter of the Undugu Society, issue no 98, short story |
| May 1995 | Running Wild Published in Flash, newsletter of the Undugu Society, issue no 55, short story |
| September 1993 | Now The Sun Doesn’t Shine Kenya Polytechnic Drama Club, an AIDS allegory with ritual drama, play in three acts |