From Nakuru to the World: Binyavanga Wainaina

Memory is the essence of skilled literature. Good memory that is. Memories of stories told by a bonfire, memories of the different places and experiences they birthed. Memories of things from one’s childhood. This is the one form of memory Kenneth Wainaina credits for his growth into a renowned author. He has written fiction – the made-up tales which, if you think about it, always have some reality to them, and also aced the non-fiction genre, narrating his upbringing for local, regional and international audiences. On the cover of his books and at the end of his literary essays, he goes by Binyavanga Wainaina.

Binyavanga was born in January of 1971. He grew into a boy that loved to explore the busy railway stopover that cemented the popularity of Nakuru town and found solace in the first-class view of the glistening lake found on the outskirts of the town. Another one of Binyavanga’s adventures involved discovering new worlds and cultures, not literally but literarily! He loved being immersed in a good story and that’s where he’d discover the worlds outside of his hometown. These adventures made him realise that he too could tell a story or two about his own world.

Binyavanga left Nakuru for secondary school when he was accepted to Mang’u High School in Thika. Here he continued to find more books and maintained his literary spirit through to his A-Levels at Lenana School in Nairobi. While many would assume he’d dive into the world of writing or publishing for his tertiary education, fate had other plans. Binyavanga was accepted into The University of Transkei in Cape Town where he pursued a Bachelor of Commerce. This endeavour didn’t deter him from his love for books and growing ability to tell stories. For his advanced tertiary pursuit, he enrolled at the University of East Anglia (UEA) to indulge his love of literature, taking on a Masters in Creative Writing. This was probably the best decision Binyavanga made and he may have had a glimpse of it. He moved back to Cape Town and dove into the literary world, working with a plethora of South African publications such as Cape Times, SA Times and Y Magazine to give his name a boost in the regional storytelling industry.

During this period, a growing annual literary competition had become a great platform for African writers to submit their work and in turn, be honoured if their stories met certain criteria. Binyavanga mind-mapped an idea, authored and edited his first short story for submission – “Discovering Home” – in January of 2002, as part of the submissions for the year’s prize.

In mid-2002, Binyavanga Wainaina was awarded the The Caine Prize for African Writing. He was notably the first Kenyan to receive the prestigious award and benchmarked the platform for more rising Kenyan – and African writers.

The win didn’t just come with recognition but also aided Binyavanga’s desire to write and bring writers together. He spearheaded the foundation of Kwani Trust, which produces Kwani? – a regional literary magazine whose first print issue was released a year after his award. Binyavanga has grown into a successful author who traces his journey back to his childhood in Nakuru, which he uses as grounding for his authorship.

We celebrate his journey towards #KeExcellence and his revelation to himself and his readers that we too can tell the stories of our world to audiences everywhere.

Photo Copyright: Mkenya Ujerumani