Beyond Kenya, Meja Mwangi carried African storytelling into global conversations, winning international recognition while remaining rooted in local realities. Even when he lived and worked abroad, his imagination never left home. Kenya was always the beating heart of his work. For generations of readers, writers, journalists and students, Mwangi offered permission: permission to write boldly, to centre the margins, to resist romanticising struggle, and to tell African stories without apology or translation.