Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan Writer And LGBTQ Activist, Dies At 48
The author founded a platform for young Kenyan authors and came out as gay in a place where homosexuality has long been illegal. "Binyavanga was unbound in his imagining," said a friend and colleague.
Binyavanga Wainaina, the deeply influential Kenyan writer credited with founding the literary magazine and collective Kwani? and advancing the fight for LGBTQ rights in Africa, has died at the age of 48. The Caine Prize for African Writing, which Wainaina won in 2002, confirmed his death in a statement Wednesday.
"Binyavanga was unbound in his imagining — reminding us with art and characteristic playfulness, what English can look like when it's an African language. Unflagging in his generosity, unflinching and direct in his said.
