Hawa Jande Golakai
Liberian writer and clinical scientist
Hawa Jande Golakai (born June 1, 1979) is a Liberian writer and clinical scientist. In 2014, she was chosen as one of 39 of Sub-Saharan Africa's most promising writers under the age of 40, showcased in the Africa39 project and included in the anthology Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara (edited by Ellah Allfrey).
Early life
Golakai was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and lived in Liberia during her childhood. She fled the country as a refugee during the First Liberian Civil War. After moving, she lived in Cape Town, South Africa, and pursued a medical career.
Education
Golakai received a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Cape Town in 2005, specializing in cell and molecular biology.
She wrote her Master of Science dissertation at Stellenbosch University in 2008.
Career
Immunology
Upon graduating from Stellenbosch University, Golakai began working at the university's Department of Biomedical Sciences. She works as a clinical immunologist and studies diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV.
Writing
Golakai's debut novel The Lazarus Effect (Kwela Books) was shortlisted for the 2011 Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize, and was longlisted for the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. On the strength of the book, in 2012 Zukiswa Wanner in The Guardian rated Golakai as one of the "top five African writers".
“Hawa Jande Golakai” enters the record as liberian writer and clinical scientist. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hawa, Jande and Golakai can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Hawa Jande Golakai” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Hawa, Jande and Golakai provides the most credible route into that argument.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24455640. VIAF identifies the subject as 249785329. The Library of Congress control number is no2012065943. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1979, 2014, 2005 and 2008.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hawa Jande Golakai”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hawa Jande Golakai primary sources, Hawa Jande Golakai archive and Hawa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hawa Jande Golakai”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hawa Jande Golakai” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.