Rebeka Njau

Njau's second novel was published in 2003.The Sacred Seed is described by Alex Wanjala as a quasi-autobiographical novel that brings together elements of social realism and the supernatural. He views the novel as Njau's attempt to expose the malaise in contemporary Kenyan society and its roots in patriarchal relations that stem from both the pre-colonial and colonial periods.

At least one reviewer was left confused by the rapid shifts in plot and point of view, but writing in 1982 Frank Birbalsingh concludes:

She is also the author of The Hypocrite and other Stories (1977), a reworking of traditional oral narratives, and of Kenya Women Heroes and their Mystical Power (1984), which records the overlooked historical contribution of women. Njau is included in the anthology Daughters of Africa (ed. Margaret Busby, 1992).

She returned to Kenya after graduation to teach at Alliance, before founding Nairobi Girls School in 1964. She married Elimo Njau, an artist from Tanzania. Njau's teaching career came to an end in 1968, and she and her husband then became increasingly involved with the Paa Ya Paa Gallery in Nairobi, before going on to edit Target, the magazine of the National Council of Churches in Kenya. Njau separated from husband in 1983 and published her memoirs, Mirrors of My Life, in 2019.

In 1964 a second play, In the Round Chain, was performed before being banned by the Ugandan government.

In 1964 Njau won a prize in an East African novel competition with her manuscript Alone with the Fig Tree. Following substantial revisions, it was published as Ripples in the Pool by TransAfrica Press in 1975. TransAfrica went bankrupt shortly afterwards, and Njau contacted Henry Chakava, editor of Heinemann Educational Books East Africa, to see if the novel could be republished. A subedited edition appeared in the African Writers Series in 1978.

In 1964 she published a short story called Muma in Présence Africaine 50, although there is confusion over authorship.

The Scar, a one-act play, is considered the first play written by a Kenyan woman when it appeared in Transition journal in March 1963. It was republished in 1965 by Kibo Art Gallery in Marangu, which was run by Elimo Njau.

The Scar premiered at the Uganda National Theatre in 1963 and went on to be performed in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and the USA. The play centres on the issue of female genital mutilation. The main character is Mariana, a former prostitute who tries to help girls escape female genital mutilation, which she regards as a 'brutal custom'. She advocates for alternative forms of initiation that can empower girls. Mariana is opposed by other women, who claim to be acting on behalf of the community's elders. The play ends with Mariana being shamed for having an illegitimate child and losing her status.

Rebekah Njau, under the pseudonym Marina Gashe, published a poem, The Village in 1963.

Njau attended Alliance Girls High School before being admitted to Makerere University College in Kampala. While at Makerere, she attended the 1962 African Writers Conference.

Rebeka Njau (née Nyanjega; born 15 December 1932) was Kenya's first female playwright and a pioneer in the representation of African women in literature. Her writing has addressed topics such as female genital mutilation and homosexuality. Her first novel, Ripples in the Pool, appeared as number 203 in the Heinemann African Writers Series.

Rebeka Njau was born in 1932 in the village of Kanyariri, in Kiambu County to the northwest of Nairobi. Her family was Christian and she recalled the division this created with those around them: