Writer Binyavanga Wainaina at the 2009 Brooklyn Book Festival by Nightscream

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Table of contents:

• The follow-up
  • Sudan’s revolution stalls
• What everyone is talking about
  • A tribute to Binyavanga Wainaina
• What we are talking about
  • Kevazingo-gate hits Gabon
• State of the earth
  • South Africa: too little, too late for big polluter?
• Health Corner
  • Malaria-free in Algeria
• Hear this word
  • LGBTQ rights take a hit in Kenya
• What else?
  • If you have time, read these!

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Free segment: What we are talking about

A tribute to Binyavanga Wainaina

The essentials: Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, laureate of The Caine Prize for African Writing and widely respected political activist, died aged 48 in Nairobi after a short illness. Despite his early death, he leaves a tremendous legacy that will continue to influence contemporary African literature for decades.

The context: After winning the Caine Prize in 2002 for his short story Discovering Home, Wainaina used the prize money to set up Kwani? (“What?” in Sheng), a literary magazine and trust, which he developed into the perhaps most influential publication for contemporary African literature on the continent. Already well established in the writing scene, he entered the global popular conscience with his essay How to Write about Africa in 2006, a satire about tropes used to describe Africa in storytelling and journalism.

His 2011 memoir, One Day I Will Write About This Place, was critically acclaimed and is frequently cited as a deeply authentic and influential representation of the experience of Wainaina’s generation in a time of constant flux, authoritarian government and economic austerity.

In 2014, he published a “lost chapter” from the memoir, outing himself as gay in an essay called I am a homosexual, mum. He imagines himself arriving at the deathbed of his dying mother and coming out to her and describes his lifelong struggles with his sexual identity. Published at a time of increasing hostility towards homosexuality in Africa and globally, the essay was as courageous as it was effective in drawing attention to gay rights and culture on the continent.

The good/the bad/the future: Binyavanga Wainaina went far too soon. But his legacy is less dependent on his personal works, many of which will now never be written. His presence and ideas have influenced a whole generation of authors, not least through the establishment of Kwani?. His seminal writings are relevant to some of the most important issues facing African societies today and will remain so for years. His impact on African literature will take decades to be fully comprehended.

Key works:

• Discovering Home (2002)
• How to Write About Africa (2006)
• One Day I Will Write About This Place: a Memoir (2011)
• I am a homosexual, mum (2014)

Obituaries:

• Our man of the people (Africa is a Country)
• Billy Kahora on Binyavanga Wainaina’s Groundbreaking Work (Literary Hub)
• Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan author and gay rights activist, dies aged 48 (The Guardian)
• Curtain falls on Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina (The East African)
• In Memoriam: Binyavanga Wainaina (Caine Prize)

Discuss with @PeterDoerrie on Twitter

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The Africa Insiders’ Newsletter is a collaboration between AfricanArguments.org and @PeterDoerrie, with contributions from @_andrew_green, @shollytupe, and assistance from Stella Nantongo. Part of the subscription revenue is funding in-depth and freely accessible reporting and analysis on African Arguments.