Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina (18 January 1971 – 21 May 2019) was a Kenyan author, journalist and 2002 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. In April 2014, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine included Wainaina in its annual ''Time'' 100 as one of the "Most Influential People in the World".

Early life and education

Binyavanga Wainaina was born on 18 January 1971 in

Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitant ...

in Rift Valley Province, Kenya."Voices of Kenya's Voters"
BBC News. He attended Moi Primary School in Nakuru,

Mangu High School Mang'u High School is a Kenyan Roman Catholic National High School established in 1925, located in Kiambu County along the Nairobi-Thika Highway from Thika, Kenya. Mang'u High School is ranked among the top schools nationwide in Kenya Certifi ...

Thika Thika Thika (pronounced �θika is an industrial town and a major commerce hub in Kiambu County, Kenya, lying on the A2 road 42 kilometres (26 mi) Northeast of Nairobi, near the confluence of the Thika and Chania Rivers. Although Thika town ...

, and

Lenana School Lenana School is a secondary school in Nairobi, Kenya. It was formed in 1949 by colonial governor Philip Euen Mitchell, known then as the Duke of York School, named after a British World War II 1939 King George V-class battleship. The bell fr ...

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. He later studied commerce at the

University of Transkei The University of Transkei was a university in Umtata in the former bantustan of Transkei in South Africa. It was founded in 1976 as a branch of the University of Fort Hare and after the Transkei gained nominal independence in 1977, it became the ...

in South Africa, where he went to live in 1991. He completed an MPhil in Creative Writing at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

in 2010. His debut book, a memoir entitled ''One Day I Will Write About This Place'', was published in 2011. In January 2014, in response to a wave of anti-gay laws passed in Africa, Wainaina publicly announced that he was gay, first writing an essay that he described as a "lost chapter" of his 2011 memoir entitled "I am a Homosexual, Mum", and then tweeting: "I am, for anybody confused or in doubt, a homosexual. Gay, and quite happy."

Career

Following his education, Wainaina worked in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

for some years as a freelance food and travel writer. In July 2002 he won the Caine Prize for his short story "Discovering Home" (the judges being

Ahdaf Soueif Ahdaf Soueif ( ar, أهداف سويف; born 23 March 1950) is an Egyptian novelist and political and cultural commentator. Early life Soueif was born in Cairo, where she lives, and was educated in Egypt and England. She studied for a PhD in lin ...

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

, Jason Cowley and

Abdulrazak Gurnah Abdulrazak Gurnah (born 20 December 1948) is a Tanzanian-born British novelist and academic. He was born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar and moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s as a refugee during the Zanzibar Revolution. His novels include ...

). Wainaina was the founding editor of ''

Kwani? ''Kwani?'' ( Sheng for ''so what?'') is a leading African literary magazine based in Kenya that has been called "undoubtedly the most influential journal to have emerged from sub-Saharan Africa". The magazine grew out of a series of conversatio ...

'', the literary magazine in East Africa that sprung out of an artistic revolution that started in 2002. Established in 2003, ''Kwani?'' has since become an important source of new writing from Africa;

Yvonne Owuor Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (born 1968) is a Kenyan writer who is the author of novels, short stories and essays. She won the 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing for her story "Weight of Whispers". Education and professional life Born in Nairobi, Ken ...

also wrote for the magazine and won the Caine Prize in 2003. Wainaina's satirical essay "How to Write About Africa", published in '' Granta'' magazine in 2005, attracted wide attention.Wainaina, Binyavanga (24 May 2019)
"How to Write About Africa II – The revenge"
''Bidoun'', Issue 21: Bazaar II, 2008. Wainaina summed up the way Western media has reinforced stereotypes and pre-existing ideas of Africa by saying their representation was that: "One must treat Africa as if it were one country... f900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book." In 2003, he was given an award by the Kenya Publishers Association for his services to Kenyan literature. He wrote for ''

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national '' Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' is circulated in Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes T ...

'', ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' (South Africa), ''Granta'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', '' Chimurenga'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (UK). In 2007, Wainaina was a writer-in-residence at

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in Schenectady, NY (USA). In the fall of 2008, he was in residence at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, in

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, where he was teaching, lecturing and working on a novel. He was a Bard Fellow and the director of the Chinua Achebe Center for African Literature and Languages at Bard College. Wainaina collected more than 13,000 recipes from around Africa and was an expert on traditional and modern African cuisine. In January 2007, Wainaina was nominated by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

as a "

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...

" – an award given to people for "their potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world." He subsequently declined the award. In a letter to Klaus Schwab and

Queen Rania Rania Al-Abdullah ( ar, رانيا العبد الله, ; born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She received her bachelor's degree in busines ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, he wrote:

Personal life

On 1 December 2016,

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immun ...

, Wainaina announced on his

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profile that he was

HIV positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

, "and happy". In 2018, he announced that he would be marrying his long-term partner the following year.

Death

Wainaina died aged 48 after a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

on the evening of 21 May 2019, at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, according to news and family sources. He had experienced several strokes since 2016.

Selected publications

* "Discovering Home" (short story), ''g21net'', 2001. Reprinted in ''Discovering Home: A selection of writings from the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing''. * "An Affair to Dismember" (short story), ''

Wasafiri ''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari" ...

'', Volume 17, Issue 37, 2002. * "Beyond the River Yei: Life in the Land Where Sleeping is a Disease" (photographic essay; with Sven Torfinn), Kwani Trust, 2004. * "How To Write About Africa" (article, satire), '' Granta'' 92, 2005. As ''How to Write About Africa'', Kwani Trust, 2008, . Reproduced in full in the 40th birthday edition of ''Granta'', 2 May 2019. * "In Gikuyu, for Gikuyu, of Gikuyu" (article, satire), ''Granta'' 103, 2008. * "How to Write About Africa II: The Revenge", ''

Bidoun ''Bidoun'' is an American non-profit organization, focused on art and culture from the Middle East and its diasporas. Bidoun was founded as a print publication and magazine in 2004 by Lisa Farjam, eventually expanding to curatorial projects. The ...

'', No. 21, Bazaar II, 2010. * ''One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir'' (autobiography);

Graywolf Press Graywolf Press is an Independent publisher, independent, non-profit publishing, publisher located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Graywolf Press collaborates with organizations such as the Co ...

, 2011, . * "Viewpoint: Binyavanga on why Africa's international image is unfair",

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, Africa, 24 April 2012. * "I am a homosexual, mum" (essay). ''Africa is a Country'', 19 January 2014. Reprinted in ''The Guardian'', 21 January 2014. * "A Letter to All Kenyans from Binyavanga Wainaina or Binyavanga wa Muigai" (essay), '' Brittle Paper'', 25 October 2017.

Notes

External links

* (unofficial archive of Binyavanga Wainaina's writing)
Kwani?
* "Discovering Home

"Voices of Kenya's Voters"
Interview, BBC News.
"Kenyan wins African writing prize"
BBC News, 16 July 2002. * Stephanie Bosch Santana
"Exorcizing Afropolitanism: Binyavanga Wainaina explains why 'I am a Pan-Africanist, not an Afropolitan' at ASAUK 2012"
Africa in Words, 8 February 2013. * Qazi Mustabeen Noor
"Binyavanga Wainaina, powerhouse of African literature, dies at 48"
''

Dhaka Tribune The ''Dhaka Tribune'' is a major Bangladeshi English-language daily newspaper based in Dhaka, the country's capital and largest city. It also operates an online Bengali version known as the ''Bangla Tribune''. The newspaper has a strong readershi ...

'', 12 June 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wainaina, Binyavanga 1971 births 2019 deaths 21st-century essayists 21st-century Kenyan writers 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century male writers 21st-century memoirists Alumni of Lenana School Alumni of Mang'u High School Alumni of the University of East Anglia Caine Prize winners Gay writers Kenyan essayists Kenyan journalists Kikuyu people LGBT people from Kenya Male essayists People from Nakuru People with HIV/AIDS Chevening Scholars