Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina, a Kenyan author, journalist and 2002 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing is dead after suffering a stroke.
Wainana, who was a common figure in the Kenyan scene was very vocal when it came to issues of people living with HIV and the LGBT community.
Here are things you did not know about Binyavanga
1. Binyavanga was born in 18 January 1971.
2. He was born in Nakuru.
3. He studied at Mang’u High School, University of Transkei and Lenana School.
4. He won the Caine Prize for African Writing.
5. He was living with HIV,He openly opened up about his condition in 2016 through his twitter handle.
6. Binyavanga Wainaina died on 21st May 2019 after suffering from a stroke.
7. He was openly gay- Wainaina publicly announced that he was gay, first writing a short story 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.”
8. His debut book, a memoir entitled One Day I Will Write About This Place, was published in 2011.
9. He is the founding editor of Kwani, the first literary magazine in East Africa since Transition Magazine. Established in 2003.
10. In 2007 he turned down the “Young Global Leader” which he had been nominated for by the World Economic Forum.