Kinyanjui Kombani finds Colombia with latest continental award
Kinyanjui Kombani (left) is congratulated by Mr. Guy Amartefio, Head of Ghana Library Authority after winning the 2018 CODE Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature for his book Finding Colombia during the at the Ghana International Book Fair in Accra on September 3, 2018. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP
Everything in this 122-page book is in the right place. Like a pristine river bubbling its way through rocky highlands, the story flows rapidly as the reader is immersed in the turbulent world of Alex — or Lex to those who know him.
“GINIWASEKAO!!! (We have won this thing!!!)” Kinyanjui Kombani declared on his Facebook page on the night of August 31, shortly after he was announced this year’s winner of the Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature, trumping competition from Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia.
Although it was close to midnight, congratulatory messages started flowing in, and by the morning of September 1, the rest of the country had woken up to news of his becoming the first Kenyan to win the prize at a continent level.
