Prizes a glimpse into sorry state of Kenyan literature

When the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize was awarded last Saturday, it went to two authors who have dominated the award, now in its sixth edition. Ng’ang’a Mbugua, whose book Angels of the Wild won in the English category, and Prof John Habwe, whose book Kovu Moyoni took the Kiswahili prize, have each won three times.

Mbugua won the prize in 2010 with Terrorists of the Aberdare and in 2012 with Different Colours. Prof Habwe won the inaugural prize, in 2006 with his book Paradiso and won it again in 2010 with Cheche za Moto.

Maybe the question Kenyan writers should be asking themselves right now is why a literary award has been dominated by two authors. Is it that the other writers are not good enough or that these two are simply too good? Whatever the answer, it does not bode well for Kenyan writing.

Consequently, Mbugua declared he has retired from the Prize, maybe to give other writers a ‘fighting’ chance, and to concentrate on other awards like the Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. Maybe Mbugua should reconsider his retirement, for he has set the standards; other writers should be able to compete with the best there is. A competition of mediocre writers does not produce a competent writer.

'MENTOR A FEW WRITERS'
Asked if his decision to retire from the Wahome Mutahi Prize will deny other writers the chance to gauge themselves with the high standards he set, Mbugua had this to say: “I recognise that WMP is a young award; I have won it three times and been number two once. Awards should also reflect the diversity of our country, themes and styles. I also intend to mentor a few writers so that they, too, can aspire to win the award in future. Also note that I started submitting my books in the hope that I would be recognised as a writer. I have achieved that goal.”

The secret to Mbugua’s success in writing lies in a secret manuscript he wrote, for his eyes only.  “I wanted to gauge how I would write if I had a free hand and no worries. I also wanted to see if I could write something that I myself would enjoy reading,” he says adding that he realised that if he used humour and wrote in an easy flowing style “I could get the winning formula.”

“After finishing that book, I started working on Terrorists of the Aberdare, which I published in 2009. I have stuck to that style since,” he adds.

Prof Habwe avers that the aspect of believability in his narrations sets them apart from the rest. “For Kovu Moyoni, I had to go and do research in Mt Elgon for a whole month,” he says. “Before I write on any topic I invest in extensive research. It is then that I dramatise the story.”

ADDED ADVANTAGE
The fact that he grew up speaking Kiswahili at the Kenyan coast is an added advantage for him when it comes to masterly of the language. “Besides, I have read a lot of books both in English and Kiswahili and thus I can confidently say I understand the writers’ craft,” says Prof Habwe, who has also won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature with his book Pendo la Karaha.

Still, he takes criticism seriously. “Before I submit my books for publication, I will have given it to my Masters students for feedback,” he adds.

Like Mbugua, he also would like to withdraw his works from this Award they have dominated so much. “It is a nice idea to give the younger writers a chance to also thrive, but then you cannot control where your publisher will submit your manuscript for consideration. I would, however, urge them not to submit them to the Wahome Mutahi Prize,” says Prof Habwe.

A damning indictment on both our writers and publishers came from Dr Tom Odhiambo, who chairs the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize. “There is a crisis of editing in this country,” said Dr Odhiambo. It is either that writers submit really poorly written manuscripts and editors just gloss them over or that editors are equally poor.

It should be noted that this is not the first time the issue of poor editing has been raised. At a different forum, a few years back the chairman of Moran Publishers, David Muita, also decried the poor standards of writing. Dr Odhiambo, who pulled no punches in his speech, asked Kenyans not to delude themselves that their competitors on the continent are Nigeria and South Africa. With such poorly edited texts, he said, Kenya stands no chance.
The same sentiments were expressed by Dr Waveny Olembo, who chaired the Burt Award for African Writing, which was awarded last Friday. She noted that much of the judging work went into correcting editing mistakes in the submitted texts. The winner of the Burt Award was Goro wa Kamau, who wrote Ghost and the Fortune Hunters. Muthoni wa Gichuru came in second with The Hidden Package, while Tony Mochama’s Run, Cheche, Run, was the second runner-up.

POOR EDITNG
The poor editing only comes to fore when these texts are subjected to the critical eyes of judges. Assuming that publishers submit what they feel are their best books, for consideration in literary awards, what about the rest of the books that are not necessarily meant for awards?

The curse of poor editing can partly be attributed to the poor attitude of publishers towards creative works; publishers place too much emphasis on textbooks at the expense of creative writing. It is not uncommon to find a languages editor being made to edit physics or biology books.

Kenyan publishers have also been accused of treating the production of creative works like CSR; the attitude here being that since we have made good money from publishing textbooks, let us now give back to society by producing one or two novels. You all know that companies do not take their CSR responsibilities seriously; it is a good PR exercise and in some instances it is used to apply for tax exemption.

It is not that there are no good editors in our publishing houses; it is just that they are not allowed enough time with manuscripts. They are under pressure to produce as many textbooks as possible. Until such a time when publishers will take creative works seriously, readers will continue suffering poorly edited books, and the more reason Mbugua should reconsider his stand.