Kenyan author and activist Binyavanga Wainaina has died at the age of 48, the publication he founded announced.
Wainaina, the founder of the literary magazine Kwani, passed away following a short illness, the chairman of the Nairobi-based magazine told The Daily Nation newspaper on Wednesday.
Tom Maliti said the writer died a few minutes past 10pm (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday at a Nairobi hospital. In November 2015, Wainaina suffered a stroke.
Wainaina had won the Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story Discovering Home in 2002.
Following the passage of a series of anti-gay laws across Africa in 2014, Wainaina publicly announced that he was gay.
“I am, for anybody confused or in doubt, a homosexual. Gay, and quite happy.” He tweeted.
In December 2016, Wainaina posted on Twitter that he was HIV-positive.
Time Magazine in 2014 included Wainaina in its list of the Most Influential People in the World.
Wainaina's literary works include 'How to Write About Africa' (2006), 'One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir' (2012), and 'Nguva Na Nyoka' (2016) meaning 'Sirens and Serpents' in Swahili .
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