September is an important month for Kenyan writers. It is the one time of the year when they feel appreciated for putting pen to paper. Publishers and their associates serenade creative writers and even give them money.

But once the winners’ cheques and certificates have been presented, publishers rush back to doing what they do best — publishing and selling textbooks.

September is about the literary awards, where creative writers deemed the best are rewarded. There are three major literary awards in Kenya — the Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature, the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize, awarded every alternate year, and the Burt Award for African Writing.

The first two are administered by the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA); the Burt Award is given by the National Book Development Council of Kenya (NBDCK) annually.

This year, only the Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature, the oldest and most prestigious literary award in the country, and the Burt Award, which is funded by a Canadian philanthropist, were awarded.

The Burt Award has been in place for the past four years. The Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature has been in existence since 1974, and boasts some prominent Kenyan writers as its recipients.

These include Meja Mwangi (Kill Me Quick, 1974 and The Last Plague, 2001), David Maillu (The Broken Drum, 1992) and the late Wahome Mutahi (Three Days on the Cross, 1992).

This year, Yvonne Owuor won the award for her debut novel Dust. The panel of judges, chaired by Dr Tom Odhiambo of the University of Nairobi, noted that the writer “is comfortable with style and language of expression, and strongly reminds Kenyans that ignoring the country’s ‘fractured’ history is perilous to our pursuit of national commonness.”

Dust tackles Kenya’s dark and bloody past; it has won Owuor international praise. She announced her presence to the literary world when, in 2003, she won the Caine Prize for African Writing with her short story Weight of Whispers.

Owuor said: “There is something poignant and cherishing about acknowledgement from ‘home’ in a way that no other international offerings can give,” she said. “The award, coming from Kenya, makes me love Kenya a little more.”

The New York Times describes Dust as “Raw, fragmented, dense, opaque. Beautiful, but brutally so.”

Owuor received a cheque of Ksh300,000 ($3,000).

(The Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize, established in honour of the late humourist and playwright, and solely funded by KPA, gives winners Ksh50,000 ($500).)

The Burt Prize, funded by William Burt, after whom it is named, was established to promote African writing. The prize is also offered in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Ghana. The overall winner took home Ksh765,000 ($7,650); the first and second runners-up received Ksh595,000 ($5,950) and Ksh425,000 ($4,250) respectively.

Christopher Okemwa won the Burt Award for his book Sabina and the Mystery of the Ogre, published by Nsemia Publishers.

Okemwa’s book addresses the issues of female genital mutilation and early forced marriage through the struggles of Sabina, a girl who dares to challenge the culture in her Abagusii community.

Okemwa said the award is a validation of his writing. “I am now looking forward to winning more prizes, especially international ones like the Caine Prize,” he said.

Stanley Gazemba, a past winner of the overall Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature (The Stone Hills of Maragoli, 2003), and whose book A Scare in the Village won in this year’s children’s category, says more needs to be done to promote the winning books.

“After one receives the cheque and certificate, that is the end. Publishers should ensure that winning titles are prominently displayed in book shops; they should also organise book signings by the authors,” said Gazemba.

Literary critic Prof Chris Wanjala of the University of Nairobi, agreed with Gazemba. “This is an especially good idea now that we have county governments. Critics should be able to accompany the authors like we did with Ngugi wa Thiong’o, when his publisher East African Educational Publishers organised a tour of Kisii University,” said Wanjala.

He gave the example of Oduko Bw’ Atebe, whose book The Verdict of Death won the inaugural edition of the Wahome Mutahi Prize for Literature.

“Atebe has since been forgotten. The same is true of Abdulatif Abdallah, whose book, Sauti ya Dhiki, won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize, in the Kiswahili category in 1974,” he added.

Prof Wanjala, a past chairman of NBDCK, said the Burt Award is different. “Part of the package of the Burt Award is the guarantee that NBDCK buys 3,000 copies of the winning titles and distributes them to schools. Publishers of the winning titles also commit to moving 2,000 copies of each book,” said Wanjala.

When contacted, John Mwazemba, the treasurer of KPA, said, “After the awards ceremony it is now the duty of the individual publishers to market and publicise the winning titles; this includes putting a prominent sticker on the cover of the books to indicate that they are award winners,” he said.