Year of literary triumphs: Maisha Yetu recognises trailblazers in the sector

As the calendar turns to a promising new year, the Maisha Yetu Excellence Awards 2024 takes center stage to spotlight and celebrate the pinnacle of literary achievement and cultural innovation. From visionary publishers to trailblazing creatives, this year’s honorees represent the vibrant heartbeat of Kenya’s literary and artistic community. The awards are not just a recognition of individual and organizational efforts but a testament to the power of storytelling, cultural preservation, and creative exploration in shaping our society.

Here’s a look at the distinguished winners whose contributions have defined the past year and promise to inspire the future.

Body Corporate of the Year Award

For organising two highly successful book fairs, Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) wins the Maisha Yetu Body Corporate of the Year Award, for the third year running. In May this year, KPA organised one the most successful book events, held at the Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa.

Through its chairman, Kiarie Kamau, the publishers’ umbrella body outdid itself by hosting the Nairobi International Book Fair, at the end of September, which was marking its Silver Jubilee. During those celebrations, KPA rolled out the inaugural KPA Hall of Fame, which seeks to honour those who have played a significant role in championing publishing and writing in Kenya.  

Publisher of the Year

eKitabu started the year with great promise. Riding on the success of last year’s Rights Cafe, during the Nairobi International Book Fair, eKitabu held an ace up its sleeve.

To test the waters, they organised a highly successful event, where they launched audiobooks for four books, namely, Beautiful Mess by Scholastica Moraa, 3 Bolts from the Blue, by Lesalon Kasaine, Whispers from Vera by Goretti Kyomuhendo and Cocktail from the Savannah, by Ciku Kimani-Mwaniki.

This turned out to be a dry run for the introduction of Mvua Press, their fiction imprint. The first big launch of Mvua Press took place on Nov 30, with Ciku’s fifth book, NaiRobbery Cocktail. Before that they had published When Love Says Goodbye, a poetry collection by Scholastica Moraa, as their first ever book.

eKitabu, through Mvua Press, say they have what it takes to bring about author success, using creative marketing, thereby taking Kenya’s fictional writing to the next level.

By venturing into creative/cultural publishing at a time when mainstream publishers are quietly divesting, eKitabu wins the Publisher of the Year Award.

CEO of the year

James Odhiambo is the CEO of Kenya Publishers Association (KPA), the umbrella body of publishers in Kenya. Among other things, Odhiambo coordinates the organisation of the Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF), the premier book event in the region. He has coordinated NIBF on behalf of KPA, for the last 18 years.

This year, NIBF was celebrating 25 years its existence, with unique events that included rollout of the inaugural KPA Hall of Fame, as well as recognising 25 authors who have made an impact on the Kenyan writing scene. It is for this reason that we award James Odhiambo the Maisha Yetu CEO of the Year Award.

Foreign Cultural Institution of the Year

The commitment of Alliance Française towards the promotion of Kenyan art and creativity was cemented when renovated their library to turn it into an ultra-modern centre that will be home to artists and creatives.

This space offers free space for writers to launch their books and hold book-related discussions and recitals.

For the third year running, Alliance Française takes the Maisha Yetu Foreign Cultural Institution of the Year Award.

Bookseller of the Year

Soma Nami made a name as a bookseller that focuses almost exclusively on literary books by African writers, including those in the diaspora. In 2023, they added an extra feather on their cap by establishing the African Book Fair, an annual event held at the historic Macmillan Memorial Library. This is on top of hosting book related events at their bookstore.

In Mid this year, Soma Nami opened a more spacious branch in Ngara. To cap a successful year, the directors of Soma Nami, teamed up with Narrative Landscape Press of Nigeria to establish Prima, a publishing imprint that will publish literary texts in Kenya and the East African region, under the umbrella of Narrative Landscape Press East Africa.

That is precisely why we award Soma Nami the Maisha Yetu Bookseller of the Year Award.

Most Effective Marketing Campaign

The 2023 Maisha Yetu Award for the Most Creative, Most Sustained and thus, the Most Effective Marketing Campaign for a Book goes to Till Death Do Us Part, a novel by Diana Mosoba. The book tells the story of Tara, a single mother of one, who gets into an abusive union and almost pays with her life.

Diana single-handedly masterminded a successful digital marketing campaign, that got the Kenyan literary talking about the book, particularly those who gave the book negative reviews. She took the negative reviews in her stride, reinforcing the marketing maxim that states that positive and negative publicity is publicity all the same.

Most Impactful Publisher

Jahazi Press operates mostly in silence, but when they make a move, it creates waves on the publishing scene. In August this year, Jahazi Press launched Let Us Conspire and Other Stories, followed shortly after with Half Portraits Under Water, a collection of short stories by Dennis Mugaa.

These two books are included in the prestigious list of 100 Notable African Books of 2024. This list is compiled by Brittle Paper. This is no mean feat.

Jahazi Press is also the publisher of The House of Rust, by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber, which won the inaugural Ursuka K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, in 2022. The House of Rust has also won the Gray Wolf Press African Fiction Prize.

Jahazi Press wins the Maisha Yetu Prize for Most Impactful Publisher.

Lifetime Achievement Award

David Maillu is a name that requires no introduction in Kenya. Here is a writer that fired up the minds of Kenyan readers with his popular fiction - some might call them pornographic - books like My Dear Bottle, After 4.30, The Flesh, among others.

What many of Maillu’s detractors do not know is that he also engages in serious academic/cultural writing. A clear example is Ka, the Holy Book of Neter, which he co-wrote alongside eminent theologians and scholars.

In total, he has written and published more than 80 books, with many more unpublished manuscripts.

He is in the process re-issuing the classics he wrote and published from the 70s, through to the 90s.

Towards the end of September, Maillu launched his latest book, Push Gen-Z Push Harder, which pays tribute to the Gen-Z demonstrations that rocked Kenya in the month of June, leading to the dropping of the controversial Finance Bill 2024.

Apart from writing, Maillu is also an accomplished sculptor and painter.

It is for this reason that we award him the Maisha Yetu Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personality of the year

Scholastica Moraa embodies the never-say-die attitude of an author. Despite writing poetry, which is not considered a cup of tea by many people, Moraa, an award-winning short story writer, did not give up on her chosen genre. What is more, she went ahead to self-publish her books.

Beautiful Mess, her first book, was published in June 2022. It was shortly followed by Dreams and Demons, co-authored alongside Anyango Nyar Aketch, Emily Millern and Winnie Madoro, which was published towards the end of 2022.

This Heart of Mine, which she co-authored with Betty Kilonzo, came out in July 2023. Things changed for the better, for Moraa, when she attended the Nairobi International Book Fair, in 2023 – for the very first time – and on to the Rights Café, a platform organised by eKitabu, where Kenyan authors and publishers negotiated with agents of international publishers for the sale of publishing rights.

There, she met Valeria Paolini an agent of Nonsolopoesie Edizoni, an Italian publishing house. This resulted in of Avolte l’amore vive qui, which translates to Sometimes Love Lives Here, a poetry collection, which was came out in September 2024. The poems are rendered in both English and Italian.

Another of her books, When Love Says Goodbye, earned the honourable distinction of being the first book, published by Mvua Press, an imprint of eKitabu. That is not all, eKitabu sponsored her to the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair, where she participated in a discussion titled ‘The next global bestseller by an African author, will be a hit in Africa first’.

We are also proud to announce that Moraa is a committed book reviewer on maishayetu.co.ke 

It is for that reason that we award her the Maisha Yetu Personality of the Year.

Shujaa Stories creativity

Shujaa Stories might not ring a bell to many people, but what they do has a big impact on the Kenyan society. This is a collective of young creatives consisting of researchers, writers, illustrators, videographers and designers.

They curate and compile Kenyan Superheroes, a series of stories on cultural and folk figures from the various Kenyan communities. These heroes include Lwanda Magere, Syokimau, Mekatilili wa Menza, Wangu wa Makeri, Koitalel Arap Samoei, among others.

These stories are graphic stories rendered in video and print formats, are targeted at children and the youth.

Shujaa Stories have collaborated with various organisations like the National Museums of Kenya, the British Council and Google Kenya.

Shujaa Stories take the Maisha Yetu Young Creatives of the Year Award.

Blogger of the Year

For consistently bringing us news and information on African books, African authors and the general publishing scene in Africa, James Murua, who runs the Writing Africa website, takes the Maisha Yetu Blogger of the year.

 Illustrator of the Year

Martha Shavuya Galavu is the creative force behind Shujaa Stories, a youth collective that produces Kenyan Superheroes, a series on cultural and folk figure drawn from the various communities in the country. Shujaa Stories was the brainchild of her brother, Masidza Galavu, who succumbed to Lupus in 2020.

She took over from where her brother left and taken the venture to greater heights.

In late October/early November, she led the Shujaa Stories team in a week-long exhibition of Queens of the Swahili Seas, at the Lamu Cultural Festival.

She wins the Maisha Yetu Illustrator of the Year Award.

Creative Promoter of the Year

Msanii Kimani wa Wanjiru runs Reveal Comics Conversations East Africa. This is a collective that consists of artists, cartoonists, illustrators, and comic artists.

They hold monthly seminars and discussion forums that aim to promote cartoons and comics art and graphic novels in the region.

In March 2024, they organised the Nyrobi Comics Fest, which was a collaborative effort with Alliance Française, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Belgian Comic Strip Center - Museum Brussels.

In October, Reveal Comics Conversations EA, published Slice of Life, Kenya’s first ever comics anthology, which featured established comics artists alongside up and coming artists.

Maisha Yetu gives Msanii, the Creative Promoter of the Year Award.