Back to where it began: Joyce Wambua returns with literary triumph

 

Never one to shy away from controversy, Joyce Wambua Osborne often describes her life as a series of escape rooms. Not games or adventures, but seasons that required strategy, endurance and faith, she did not always recognise she possessed. As a young girl, she believed escape meant simply leaving difficult situations behind. Today, she understands something deeper.

“I thought I was running away,” she says of her nerve-racking life experiences. “But I was actually being prepared.”

What began as a personal writing project, a memoir and a platform for conversations about healing and self-discovery, has since grown into an award-recognised work. In 2026, it took second place in the Delaware Press Association’s Book Competition in the non-fiction, autobiography or memoir category.

Now, the Kenyan-American author is finding purpose and success in the pain of her past. Some seasons of life arrive quietly; others leave us changed forever.

After the project’s success in the United States and beyond, the humble author, who proudly flies the Kenyan flag on the global literary stage, is back home for a series of talks.

During the tour, she will meet readers and engage with leaders from different sectors, while also using her experiences to inspire and encourage younger people.

Experiences

The book ‘Seasons of Me: A Journey of Learning & Unlearning’ is as intriguing as its outspoken author.

“I think the more you open up, the more you free yourself to the world, and the more you find acceptance both within yourself and among the people you encounter. I’m back in Nairobi to share my success and experiences after a great year of winning awards and receiving recognition, thanks to this book,” Joyce told The Nairobian upon landing in the capital.

“It is a media tour coupled with meetings. The main event will take place in Nairobi on August 22 and I am all excited about it. I have invited many of the supporters who attended my previous event, the book launch, as well as new friends and book lovers who are becoming part of this big family along the way,” she said

The book chronicles seasons marked by love and belonging, while others are defined by grief, migration, motherhood, heartbreak and the difficult journey of finding oneself again. For Osborne, these seasons became more than memories. They became lessons in learning, unlearning and rediscovering herself.

They became the pages of ‘Seasons of Me: A Journey of Learning & Unlearning’, a memoir that has resonated with readers far beyond her own story.

 In the book, the award-winning author opens the door to some of the most personal chapters of her life, confronting loss, relationships, identity and the difficult process of rebuilding oneself with striking honesty.

 “I think people were able to connect with it because I told my story with honesty and authenticity,” she says.

Released last year, ‘Seasons of Me’ is an intimate account of migration, identity, womanhood, love, loss, motherhood, grief and the difficult yet liberating journey of becoming comfortable with oneself.

At its heart is Osborne’s journey from Kenya to the United States and the many transitions that followed.

When she began writing, Osborne deliberately chose not to hold back. She wanted readers to encounter the imperfect reality of a life shaped by difficult decisions, painful experiences, hard-earned lessons and moments of renewal.

“My story is not extraordinary; it’s human,” she says. “I wanted my readers to see parts of their own journeys reflected in my book.”

For Osborne, some of those seasons were especially difficult to revisit. One of the hardest chapters to write was about her late father.

Growing up in Lang’ata, Nairobi, she was the middle child in a family of seven siblings.

Her life took a dramatic turn when her father, the family’s breadwinner, suffered a stroke.

As his health deteriorated, the children were forced to shoulder responsibilities earlier than expected. Determined to seek better opportunities, Osborne eventually left Kenya for the United States. Her father’s death in 2019, while she was still abroad, left a lasting ache.

She arrived in the United States seven months pregnant, financially vulnerable and stepping into an uncertain future. She had just $200 (about Sh26,000) in her pocket and no safety net.

Endlessly curious

Growing up, Osborne was endlessly curious about the world, love and possibility. Yet, like many young women, she carried invisible expectations about who she should become, whom she should love and how much of herself she should sacrifice to sustain relationships. For a long time, love felt synonymous with responsibility.

“There was a version of me who believed loving someone meant saving them,” she explains. “I thought if I loved hard enough, I could fix everything.”

That mindset shaped many of her early relationships. She became the emotional anchor, the fixer, the safe place, the one who stayed even when staying meant losing parts of herself. The cost of that realisation came quietly.

Migration brought cultural displacement, loneliness, financial pressure and the overwhelming responsibility of raising a child while trying to rebuild her own life. But amid the uncertainty, the experience also revealed a resilience she had perhaps not fully recognised in herself.

She discovered that she could rebuild repeatedly, even when life left her feeling broken. Now, just over a year after introducing ‘Seasons of Me’ to Kenyan readers, Osborne is entering another season. Her ambitions extend beyond the memoir.

She hopes to develop mentorship programmes and workshops focusing on healing, resilience, personal growth, self-discovery and migration, using her experiences to help others navigate their own journeys.

She also envisions working with the Ministry of Education and other organisations to secure support that could see ‘Seasons of Me’ become an educational resource for schools and communities.

For Osborne, the next chapter is not just about building on the success of her memoir, but using its lessons to inspire, mentor and empower others.