Ugandan novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has been nominated for the annual “Disturbing the Peace Award”.
The Disturbing the Peace award recognizes writers of distinguished works of fiction, literary nonfiction, biography, memoir, drama, or poetry who are courageous in dissent and have suffered unjust persecution for their beliefs.
The award helps protect awardees with the shield of international attention while enriching public understanding of the power of the written word to preserve and promote humanity’s highest ideals.
Also, the award comes with a $5,000 (about Shs18 million) cash prize and a possible writing residency in Prague.
Other nominees for 2022 include; Akram Aylisli (Azerbaijan), Andrey Kurkov (Ukraine), Oleg Sentsov (Ukraine), and Anand Teltumbde (India).
Kakwenza is the winner of the 2021 PEN Pinter Prize for an International Writer of Courage. He is best known for his debut novel The Greedy Barbarian, which many readers take to be a satire on the current political situation in Uganda.
In 2020, Rukirabashaija was arrested at his home by intelligence officers and detained. A week later he was brought to court and granted bail.
He has since fled Uganda to Germany allegedly out of fear for his safety.