- Kenya is one of the literature giants in Africa and has some of the best writers in the continent.
- The likes of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Binyavanga Wainaina, Grace Ogot etc. are literature giants who have earned their place in history books.
- Here are just a few of some of Kenya's wizards of the pen whom despite their young age have produce award winning books.
These 5 little known Kenyan authors will transform your boring Sunday morning with their captivating novels
Kenya is one of the literature giants in Africa if not the world.
It is not a secret that Kenya is one of the literary giants in Africa if not the world.
The likes of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Binyavanga Wainaina, Grace Ogot, Francis D. Imbuga and Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye to mention but just a few are Kenyan literary giants who have earned their place in history books and are celebrated all over the world.
Following in their footsteps however are young and talent Kenyan authors who one day will be equally celebrated and even win the Nobel Literature Award.
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Here are just a few of some of Kenya's wizards of the pen who despite their young age have produce award winning books which will hook you from the preface to the end.
Troy Onyango
Troy is a Kenyan writer and lawyer.
He is a Founding Editor of Enkare Review and the Fiction Editor of the East Africa issue of Panorama: The Journal of Intelligent Travel.
He is one of Kenya’s most talented writers and has already produce a number fictional literature.
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His nonfiction piece, “This Is How It Ends,” was shortlisted for the inaugural Brittle Paper Award for Nonfiction.
His fiction has also appeared in various journals and magazines including Ebedi Review, Brittle Paper, Afridiaspora and Transition Issue 121, for which his short story ‘The Transfiguration’ was nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Michelle Angwenyi
Michelle is a Kenyan writer and poet based in Nairobi.
Her work attempts to investigate time and memory, and is inspired by childhood, dreams, and music from all over Africa, particularly from the seventies and eighties.
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Also read: 4 KENYAN WOMEN WITH IMMENSE TALENT WHO ARE LIFTING THE KENYAN FLAG HIGH ON THE GLOBAL ARENA
Her poems have been published in the Enkare Review, and she has fiction forthcoming in the SSDA ID anthology.
One of her poems is titled; Into the Sun & Other Poems and is a must read.
Khadija Abdalla Bajaber
The 27 year old author from Mombasa became the first African author to win the coveted Graywolf Press Africa Prize 2018 for her manuscript The House of Rust.
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“The House of Rust is an exhilarating journey into the imagination of an author for whom the fantastic is not only written about, it is performed on the page. Khadija Abdalla Bajaber has infused new life into the age-old story of adventure on the high seas—with this heroic first novel she has struck deep into that mythic realm explored by everyone from Homer to Hemingway,” said A Igoni Barrett one of the judges.
She received a $12,000 advance and her manuscript will be published in English by Graywolf Press and in Italian by 66thand2nd.
Her work has been published in Brainstorm Kenya and the Enkare Review.
Khadija , a journalism graduate, a novelist and poet currently works as the Assistant poetry editor for the East Africa issue of the Panorama travel journals.
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Abigail Arunga
Abigail is a writer, blogger, scriptwriter and confessed and committed lover of sleep.
She is the author of Akello and a side of raunch, both which were well received.
Abigail was also a scriptwriter for the award-winning soap opera “Lies that Bind” and continues to write for TV with shows such as “How to Find A Husband” and “Majaribu”.
Before that, she worked as a contributor for several local Kenyan magazines such as Home and Living East Africa, DRUM and Saturday Magazine (Nation).
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Joan Thatiah
Famed for her two books, 'Things I will tell my daughter' and 'Too pretty to be broke', Joan Thatiah is one of Kenya’s illustrious writers.
Through a blend of personal narrative, social history and hard-eyed wisdom, Joan Thatiah delves into life lessons she has lived and learnt. Into the big things, the small things and the things that today’s young woman never imagines that she will have to deal with.
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