Prize-winning Author Binyavanga Wainaina has died in the capital Nairobi age 48. Best known in a literary sense for his 2002 short story, “Discovering Home” which won the Caine Prize for African Writing, he was also the author of “How to Write About Africa” & the autobiography “One Day I Will Write About This Place”. He was also influential in setting up Kwani? a leading Kenyan based African literary magazine.
Wainaina was openly Gay – a brave decision in a country where Homosexuality remains illegal and was named among Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2014 for his gay rights activism. In 2016 on World Aids Day he announced he was HIV-positive and up until his death he continued to campaign for better treatment for the LGBT community in Kenya, many of whom have been inspired & emboldened by his bravery. He had planned to marry his boyfriend in South Africa, but sadly he never got the time.
The Kenyan Supreme Court is due to rule on Friday whether to overturn the law banning Homosexual relations, and a positive ruling would make a fitting epitaph to a short but fully lived life.
You can Read Some Of His Work Online
Or His book is currently available on Amazon (Affiliate Link)
