Kenya-born Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor studied English and History at the Kenyatta University, earned a Master of Arts degree at the University of Reading, UK, and an MPhil (Creative Writing) from the University of Queensland, Brisbane. The Kenya-based literary magazine “Kwani?” published her short story, “The Weight of Whispers”, which earned her the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2003. Her first novel, “Dust” (2014) is a recounting of Kenya’s hidden pasts through the odyssey of a disrupted family from the north of Kenya. In 2015, the book was shortlisted for the Folio Prize. Her second novel, The Dragonfly Sea (2019) is a coming-of-age story exploring the plural identities and lives stimulated by close encounters with the Swahili Seas (Indian/Western Ocean). She has contributed articles to various journals included, most lately, the Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies. For her artistic and cultural contributions, in 2016 Owuor was awarded the (Kenya) Head of State Commendation. She is now working on a new project, a novel with the working title “The Coffee Mistress’.
