Imali Abala’s The Dreamer (Nsemia Inc. 2017) has been nominated for the 2017 Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature under the Youth English Category according to a statement from the Kenya Publishers’ Association (KPA). 

The Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature is the brainchild of the Kenya Publishers Association that was established in the early 1970’s and given biennially. It is open to Kenyan writers whose work is published in Kenya.

According to Joanne Arnott The Dreamer is “a book-length poem or poetic novella, an unrelenting meditation upon woman abuse that centres upon the unfortunate path of the Dreamer. En route, the links between madness and dreams are explored, a mythical explanation for inheritable insanities, the devastating impacts of culture change and social fragmentation, and the breathlessness of having a tight fist of possibilities and a palette of advisors who all turn the Dreamer away, or inward, with no path found for her self-expressive flourishing in the world.”

Arnott continues, “touching upon historic and contemporary challenges, this work calls upon all who are in contact with girls and women, in any capacity, to open the world and make room, to clear a space for upcoming generations, on a path strewn with good guidance and marked by the freedom to explore, to walk along a path made solid with life-affirmations.”

Iddah Aoko Otieno adds that “The Dreamer is a must read for those seeking to understand female condition in post-colonial Africa. … What stands out in this story is that women have choices in redefining and repackaging their image in a male dominated world.”

Other nominees in the same category include Ghost and Fortune Hunters by Goro Wa Kamau- (Longhorn Publishers) and The Wind Under His Wings by Erick Luvumbazi (Story Moja Publishers).

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Nairobi on September 30^th, 2017

Copies of The Dreamer can be obtained from the addresses below: