Nick Mwaluko was born in Tanzania, East Africa but raised in neighboring
Kenya. Growing up a foreigner meant his family stuck closely to traditional
African values, most of which do not support active identification with homosexuality. As a result, Nick looked for financial, emotional, and spiritual support outside the family, in communal settings very different from the tribe.

After high school, Nick worked with Reuters News Agency¹s Nairobi bureau, the regional headquarters for thirteen countries located in East and Central Africa, including the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Seychelles and Comoros. While initially hired as news assistant, Nick quickly rose to the ranks of feature writer, using famine in Ethiopia and Somalia, genocide in Rwanda, countless coups in central Africa as a springboard for personal narratives triggered by political upheaval. Two stories‹one on street children, another on high-ranking African women in political office featured in The Washington Times. When Nick arrived in New York, he worked a year at Reuters Equities desk in New York City, before entering Columbia University on scholarship and fellowship.

Transitioning from female to male in his third year, he remained on the Dean's List every semester, finally graduating Magnum Cum Laude. Nick's play Waafrika premiered with critical acclaim, has won numerous awards; television and movie adaptations are currently under negotiation. As a 2006 Point Scholar, Nick pursued an MFA in Playwriting at Columbia University.

His latest play, “Are Women Human?” opens in New York on November 30.

Blog Entries by Nick Mwaluko

Try a Little Tenderness: Americans Give During Tough Times

1 Comments | Posted October 1, 2009 | 04:47 PM (EST)


"Strung out" is how Adam Kersten describes the homeless man who he sees every afternoon for lunch at his local deli. "We eat together then chat outside the deli while he tells me all kinds of stories. I never ask questions about his personal life or go there unless he...

Read Post

It Takes a Villager: Kenyan-Born New Yorker's Job a Casualty of the Recession, as is his Largesse

8 Comments | Posted September 9, 2009 | 04:47 PM (EST)


Owino Odhiambo left his tiny Kenyan village less than a decade ago to immerse himself completely in American culture. Equipped with American citizenship, two degrees, and five years experience working as a dedicated graphic designer in New York City, Owino is currently unemployed.

"My entire village...

Read Post

Becoming a Man

Posted November 20, 2007 | 04:07 PM (EST)


All I wanted from this country was to live as a man.

I grew up in a rural Tanzanian village with no electricity. We couldn't go to school unless we fetched water from the river, milked cows, let them graze for the day. Our chores reminded us that we were...

Read Post