In case you have forgotten Kenya still has a literary prize called the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. I might also hasten to add that the Prize is administered by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) every two years.
Come October, at the end of the Nairobi International Book Fair a creative Kenyan will go home with a cool Sh150,000, this being the prize money for the award. I am hearing whispers to the effect that the prize money could be increased.
That being the case KPA has announced a three -judge
panel for this year ’s, yes they do have judges.
The panel is headed by Prof Henry Indangasi, who teaches in the Literature
Department of University Nairobi . The other members are Dr Tom Odhiambo also of University of Nairobi and Prof Wangari Mwai , the Director of Kenyatta University Campus in Nyeri . Mr James Odhiambo , the executive officer of KPA says this year’s award has attracted 19
Kiswahili titles and 33 English titles. “The judges panel should be able to announce the shortlisted titles by September , ” he explains .
“Winners will announced on October 1 during the 14th edition of the Nairobi International Book Fair.” And we shall tell you who the nominated authors are, come September. Er, we’re that good.
Tag: Kenya Publishers Association
The Annual Nairobi International Book Fair, now in its 13th edition is set to take place from September 22 to 26, at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi. Maishayetu spoke to Mr Lawrence Njagi, the chairman of the Book Fair on what is in store for book lovers. Mr Njagi is also the managing director of Mountain Top Publishers.
Maishayetu: What does the 13th Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) have in store for potential visitors this year?
Lawrence Njagi: As the premier book show in the East African region visitors should come to the book fair expecting to see the best that the region has to offer in terms of books. This means that visitors should be able to interact with these books under one roof, and in a relaxed atmosphere, without being hassled by salespeople.
This is also about the only opportunity that book lovers are able to meet and interact with their favourite authors. What is more, these books are offered at highly discounted rates. This means that bookshops and libraries should take advantage of this offer to stock up. We will also be conducting seminars and workshops on relevant topics like intellectual property rights and digital publishing. Aspiring writers will also benefit from a seminar on how to successfully get published.
All in all, all visitors to the NIBF, from children, the youth and grownups should come to the Fair in the knowledge that their needs will be adequately catered for.
Q: You have been chairman of the NIBF for the last three years now, what have been your achievements so far?
A: When I took over as chairman of NIBF, the average number of visitors to the Fair was 6,000, by last year that number had risen to 17,000. We expect more visitors this year. Two years in a row, all the stands have been fully booked, and the demand for stands is growing. This means increased revenue for NIBF.
This year, we are having the largest number of international exhibitors at the Fair; five from India, two from Nigeria, one each from Senegal, China and Ethiopia. Of course we have the usual exhibitors from Uganda and Tanzania. This is not forgetting other international visitors who are not necessarily exhibitors. This is thanks to the aggressive marketing campaign, we have put in place.
In addition we now publish a free-to-distribute magazine which gives readers relevant information on the book industry.
Q: Kenyan publishers have been accused of being too textbook-oriented and therefore neglecting creative writing.
A: Before you heap all the blame on publishers, it is good to take a look at the bigger picture. A closer look at the system of education in Kenya reveals that it is too exam oriented; therefore putting to much pressure the student to pass exams at all costs. That rigid culture leaves little room for leisure reading, hence the reason many Kenyans don’t see the need to read after they are through with official schooling.
Q: Aren’t publishers contributing to the problem then?
A: First of all you have to understand that publishers are first and foremost business people looking to make maximum returns, and there is no denying the fact that textbooks provide a good source of profits to publishers. But we also have a moral duty to serve the emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of readers, and that is where non-textbooks like motivational and fiction fall. All we are saying is that the government needs to put in place policies that encourage leisure reading, a good starting point would be an overhaul of the current system of education.
Q: Still, that does not take away the fact that publishers do not market non-textbook materials well…
A: Let me say that when a book is not well marketed, both the publisher and author suffers as both have invested heavily in the publication. This is therefore a call to publishers to cast their net wider as far as marketing their books are concerned. Let publishers make use of all forms of media, print, electronic, the Internet even, to make noise about the availability of their books. In addition to bookshops, we at Mountain Top sell our books in all major supermarkets around the country. Authors too should come up with ideas on how well to market their books.
Q: You mentioned a seminar on digital publishing, are Kenyan publishers ready to embrace this new technology?
A: Publishers need to be dynamic and be able to embrace new technology as it comes along. However, the reality is such that majority of Kenyans still do not have access to electricity, and thus computers are out of reach for many. Stil, there is a generation of Kenyans that is quite well versed in digital technology and these ones have to be taken care of as well.
The Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) is calling for the submission on entries for this year’s Wahome Mutahi Literary Award. Both members and non-members of KPA are eligible to enter. Submissions should include five copies of the book, which are not returnable. The entry fee for members is Sh5,000, while that of non-members is Sh10,000. Entries should be received at the KPA secretariat by March 31, 2010. The Wahome Mutahi Literary Award was started by KPA in honour of the late humorist and author, for his contribution to the written word in Kenya. Judges pick out the book that use humor and satire to explore areas such as human rights, governance, etiquette and other relevant social issues. The first edition of the prize, awarded after every two years, was held in 2006 and was won by Onduko bw’ Atebe’s book, The Verdict of Death. Okoiti Omtata won the 2008 edition with his play Voice of the People.
These are the rules and regulations from the Kenya Publishers Association.
ELIGIBILITY
The Wahome Mutahi Literary Award is the brain-child of the Kenya Publishers Association. It was established in 2004 and is open to Kenyan writers whose work is published in Kenya. The prize will be given bi-annually to the author of the most outstanding new book that will use humor and satire to explore areas such as human rights, governance, etiquette and other relevant social issues in the following categories:
Adult Fiction:
a. English and
b. Kiswahili
PRESENTATION
The Prize will be presented during the 13th Nairobi International Book Fair to be held in September 2010.
RULES GOVERNING THE AWARD
The following rules must be adhered to:
1. Eligible entries for the 2010 Prize are those books published in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
2. Any original work of fiction written in English or Kiswahili will be eligible.
3. All entries must be submitted through the publisher.
4. In order to qualify, all entries submitted must be published in Kenya.
5. Generally, any book submitted should have a minimum of 48 pages.
6. Only published works are eligible
7. The quality of content will be the overriding criterion. The following however must be taken into consideration when submitting a title: quality of binding, cover design, quality of paper, quality of illustrations where applicable, and general layout.
8. Five non-returnable copies of the submitted title(s), accompanied by an entry form must be sent to the undersigned as soon as possible but not later than March, 31st 2010. A summary of the work and reasons for its suitability must be submitted together with the entry form.
9. The decision of the Judging Panel and the Awards Committee for the Wahome Mutahi Literary Award will be final. No further correspondence will be entered into in connection with the Award.
Mailing Address: The Executive Officer
Kenya Publishers Association
P.O. Box 42767, 00100
Nairobi
Physical Address: Kenya Publishers Association
Occidental Plaza
2nd Floor,
Muthithi Road, Westlands
Kenya Publishers Association announced the winners of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for literature at the end of the 12th Nairobi International Book Fair. They are:
Adult English Category: 1st position: Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry ole Kulet (Sasa Sema/Longhorn)
2nd position: Hawecha: A Woman for all time by Rhodia Mann (Sasa Sema/Longhorn)
3rd position: The Big Chiefs by Meja Mwangi (East African Educational Publishers)
Adult Kiswahili Category: 1st position: Kyalo Wamitila’s Unaitwa Nani? (Wide Muwa).
2nd position: Vipanya vya Maabara by Mwenda Mbatiah (Jomo Kenyatta Foundation)
3rd position: Kala Tufaha by Omar Babu (Phoenix)
Youth English Category: 1st position: Walk with me Angela by Stephen Mugambi (Kenya Literature Bureau).
2nd position: Lake of Smoke by Juliet Barnes (Phoenix)
Youth Kiswahili Category: 1st position: Dago wa Munje by Sheila Ali Ryanga (Jomo Kenyatta Foundation). Apparently there was no second or third positions here. A little bird tells me the entries were awful.
Children’s English Category: 1st position: The Prize! by Elizabeth Kabui’s (Oxford)
2nd position: On the run by Mwaura Mwigana (Oxford)
3rd position: A Mule Called Christmas by Nyambura Mpesha
Children’s Kiswahili Category: 1st Position: Kisasi Hapana by Ken Walibora (Oxford)
2nd position: Sitaki Iwe Siri by Bitugi Matundura (Sasa Sema/Longhorn)
3rd position: Ngoma za Uchawi by Atibu Bakari (Kenya Literature Bureau)
Winner in the adult categories each got Sh150,000 each, while winner in the youth and children categories got Sh75,000 each
Creative writers in Kenya will be in for a major treat at the annual Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) set to be held towards the end of September. For the first time, the winner of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature will take home a substantial amount of prize money.
The Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) who are the organisers of NIBF told maisha yetu that winners in the two adult fiction categories – English and Kiswahili – will each get Sh150,000 in prize money.
This is a major improvement from the miserly Sh40,000, previous winners used to receive, for the bi-annual award, the most prestigious in the country.
Other categories in the award, namely the youth and children’s writing will each get Sh75,000.
The increase in the prize money was made possible when the Prize’s main sponsors, Text Book Centre (TBC) presented the KPA Council with a cheque worth Sh800,000 to go towards the fund.
TBC has had a long history with the award. The award ran into financial trouble soon after its first edition in 1974, where Meja Mwangi’s book Kill Me Quick and Abdulatif Abdalla’s Sauti ya Dhiki, won the English and Kiswahili categories respectively.
After a long hiatus, members of the KPA council approached the management of TBC, in 1990, with a view of helping revive the award, which had been formed to encourage and reward creativity in Kenya.
TBC agreed to sponsor the award and donated Sh200,000 for the Prize Mr. C.D. Shah, a director of Text Book Centre, says that their decision to support the award stems from the fact that they had cordial working relations with publishers. “Being the biggest booksellers at that time, we were also their biggest customers,” he says. Text Book Centre has been in the business of selling books since 1950s, thereby making them the oldest booksellers.
TBC has handed over Sh200,000 on a bi-annual basis ever since.
In 1992, the prize was revived and Wahome Mutahi’s book Three Days on the Cross shared the first prize with David Maillu’s The Broken Drum. In 1995, the first prize went to Margaret Ogola, for her book, The River and the Source, Margaret Ogola’s book went ahead to win the Commonwealth Writers prize the same year.
In 1997, the first prize went to Ngumi Kibera’s book Grapevine Stories, with the Kiswahili prize going to Emmanuel Mbogo’s Vipuli vya Figo.
In a move that was deemed controversial, in 1999, judges decided that the books that had been submitted lacked creativity and therefore did not award any prize.
In 2001, Meja Mwangi again won with his book The Last Plague. Kyalo Wamitila’s Nguvu ya Sala took the Kiswahili prize. In 2003, Stanley Gazemba won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature with his book The Stone Hills of Maragoli.
In 2005, judges failed to award the first prize in the English category, arguing that the titles submitted were not strong enough. They however awarded the second prize, which went to Muroki Ndung’us A Friend of the Court.
In the Kiswahili adult category, the first prize went to Kyalo Wamitila’s Musaleo.
In 2007, Marjorie Oldudhe’s book A Farm Called Kishinev won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature under controversial circumstances. There was disagreements among judges as to which book, between Marjorie’s and Margaret Ogola’s Place of Destiny, deserved to win the prize.
The controversy led Pauline’s Publications, Ogola’s publishers, to boycott the NIBF since.
Apart from the River and the Source, which went on to win the Commonwealth Writers Prize, other winners of the award have little to show for it.
Critics have accused KPA of making little or no effort at all in marketing or publicising the award. The situation is such that these writers are barely known outside of the publishing and writing fraternity.
Perhaps the saddest story is that of Stanley Gazemba, whose book, The Stone Hills of Maragoli, published by Acacia, and which won the prize in 2003, has been out of print for a number of years now. The author has been engaged with the publisher in a long-running tussle, to make the book available.
The author says that only 500 copies of the book were published. Gazemba is however elated that the efforts of authors are finally being recognised. “They should have increased the prize money a long time ago,” he says. “What they used to give previously was a joke.”
The same fate is suffered by winners of the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize, formed to honour the late humourist. Although Oduko bw’ Atebe’s book, which won the inaugural prize in 2006, is readily available in the market, the author laments that it should have sold better, had KPA invested in a more aggressive campaign.
Blame here should also fall on the individual publishers, who should also take advantage of the win, to aggressively push the book in the market. But in a publishing market that overwhelmingly feeds on the government funded textbook market, it might be too much to ask of them to invest substantially in marketing a non-textbook.
Mrs Nancy Karimi, who is the chairperson of KPA promised that with the windfall from TBC, the publishers’ body should make a difference in the whole marketing of their prizes.
“The increase in prize money should now trigger more creativity from our writers, as their efforts are now better rewarded,” added Mrs Karimi, who is also the managing director of Jomo Kenyatta Foundation.
Mr Rajiv Chowdhry, the managing Director of TBC explained that their decision to increase the fund came as a result of the fact inflationary forces experienced in the country over the years have seriously eroded the value of the earlier award of Sh40,000.
TBC has promised to donate an additional Sh1.6 million to cover the 2011 and 2013 editions of the prize.
During the handing over ceremony, done at the refurbished TBC offices on Kijabe Street, both the management of TBC and the KPA Council hinted at the inclusion of more categories, in future, subject of availability of funds.