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The Nairobian columnist Tony Mochama aka Smitta is set to receive Sh2 million at this year’s Burt Award dinner. Mochama will split the prize with other literal big wigs, Alice Muthoni and Dr Goro wa Kamau.
The literary dinner will be held at the Crowne Plaza hotel.
The cheques will be given out by Ruth Odondi of the National Book Council of Kenya on behalf of the Canadian Burt billionaire family who sponsor literacy through books for young adults in Africa. For Mochama, his second Burt Award comes two years to the date that fellow poet Shailja Patel accused him of sexual harassment.
Mochama sued Professor Wambui Mwangi (who had led a sustained Twitter libel against him) for defamation through Sichangi & Company Advocates (Civil suit No. 399 at Milimani Law Courts), a case that is ongoing.
“I moved on from the dark dog days of late September 2014, and have written three more books since. I have no time or thoughts to spare for useless petty people whose whole pointless existences are about dragging other progressive folks down with silly lies. I would rather talk about my poetry text that seeks to simplify poetry for secondary school students,” He told Heads Up.
