Ugandan writer Lillian Akampurira Aujo is the winner of the inaugural Jalada Prize for Literature. She is followed by Suleiman Agbonkhianmen Buhari and Ivor W. Hartmann in second and third place respectively. The poetry category went to Okwudili Nebeolisa for his poem Mermaid.
Aujo won her prize of Kshs 30,000 (USD 330) while Buhari (no relation to a President-Elect of a vast West African country but his life will change from now as whenever he is asked his name and he says, “Buhari”) getting Kshs 15,000 (USD 220) and Hartmann took Kshs 10,000 (USD 110)
Aujo won for her story Where Pumpkin Leaves Dwell about a young girl who is left by her mother in a village as mum gets an education and the adventures she has. Having read that story it makes perfect sense why she won the prize.
This is not her first win in the business of inaugural prizes. The Femrite member was also the inaugural winner of the BN Poetry Award in 2009. You can read more about her reading habits on this Beatrice Lamwaka interview on the Ugandan newspaper The Daily Monitor.
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