First-time author wins inaugural Burt Award for African Writing

First-time author Anthony Mugo is the winner of the inaugural Ksh1 million ($11,900) Burt Award for African Writing.

The Burt Award, administered by the National Book Development Council of Kenya (NBDCK), is the richest literary award in Kenya’s history.

His story-turned-book Never Say Never, which has been published by Longhorn Publishers, emerged the winner ahead of Edward Mwangi’s The Delegate (published by Moran Publishers) and Ngumi Kibera’s The Devil’s Hill (published by Longhorn).

The first and second runners-up received Ksh500,000 ($5,950) and Ksh250,000 ($2,975) respectively.

The Burt Award, to be awarded annually, is a partnership between NBDCK and the Canadian Organisation for Development through Education with the support of Canadian patron Bill Burt, after whom the prize is named.

The award is aimed at encouraging authorship as well as a reading culture among Kenyan children.

NBDCK will purchase 3,000 copies of each of the winning titles and distribute them free of charge to schools that they work with. The publishers are expected to sell at least 2,000 copies of the books.

After the Burt Prize for African Writing, the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature comes in at a distant second, in terms of prize money, at Ksh150,000 ($1,785) for the winners, in both the English and Kiswahili categories for adults.

In the youth and children’s categories, winners get Ksh75,000 ($893) each. The Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature is sponsored by Textbook Centre.

The Wahome Mutahi Prize, in its sixth edition, lags behind when it comes to prize money.

Winners in the English and Kiswahili categories get Ksh50,000 ($593). The prize, in honour of the late humourist Wahome Mutahi, is wholly funded by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA).

Both the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature and the Wahome Mutahi Prize are administered by KPA.