Posted on May 23, 2019 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Author Binyavanga Wainaina, celebrated for his efforts to advance African literature and LGBTQ rights in Africa, has died at the age of forty-eight.

Wainaina’s death Wednesday comes at an eerie time, just days before his native Kenya’s highest court is expected to rule on whether to decriminalize homosexuality, according to his NPR obituary.

Wainaina gained critical acclaim with the award-winning short story “Discovering Home,” the prize money for which he used to launch the literary magazine and collective Kwani?.

His fame spread wider with the satirical essay “How to Write About Africa,” which criticized how Western writers often depicted countries and people in that continent.

Learn more about his literature and activism in NPR’s obituary of Wainaina.

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: NPR, Obituary

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