Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize 2014 call for submissions

The deadline for the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize 2014 is 31^st March 2014.

Wahome Mutahi was one of Kenya’s most beloved figures in the written word. He was famous for “Whispers” a column he wrote every weekend in the Sunday Nation about a man who came from the village and how he had to cope with living in the city with his wife Thatcher and his daughters Pajero, Investment and son Whisper Junior. It was a must-read for Kenyans. He eventually produced How To Be a Kenyan, based on his newspaper columns.

Away from his extremely popular newspaper column, he was also a decent writer with titles like Three Days on the Cross, Jail Bugs, Doomsday, The Miracle Merchants, Mr Canta, Hassan the Genie, The Ghost of Garba Tula and Just Wait and See.

He sadly passed away in 2003 and Kenyan publishers decided to set up a literature prize in his honour for works that explore human rights, governance, etiquette, and other social issues using humour and satire as the great man himself did. The Wahome Mutahi Literature Prize debuted in 2006 and would be held every two years.

Some of the winners of the prize include

2006

English: Onduko bw’ Atebe for The Verdict of Death(East African Educational Publishers).

2008

English: Okoiti Omtata for his play Voice of the People.

Kiswahili:

2010

English: Ng’ang’a Mbugua for Terrorists of the Aberdare. (Big Books Ltd)

Kiswahili: John Habwe for Cheche za Moto. (Jomo Kenyatta Foundation)

2012:

English: Ng’ang’a Mbugua for Different Colours. (Big Books Ltd)

Kiswahili: Jeff Mandila for Sikitiko la Sambaya (Jomo Kenyatta Foundation).

The winner of the prize goes home Kshs50,000 richer. This year’s prize has two categories;

a) Adult Fiction- Kiswahili and English categories

b) Children’s Fiction- Kiswahili and English Categories.

To enter the prize the entry fee for members is Kshs 5,000/= while for non-members is Kshs 10,000/= per entry. The deadline for entry for submission is 31st March. To enter please contact the Kenya Publishers at info{at}kenyapublishers.org or go to their official website at kenyapublishers.org/.