Panel Observations
The panel observed that it was easy adults to write for adults. But writing for the youth and children was a different matter. A number of works meant for the youth handled adult themes and had adult characters.
Similarly, some of the works written for children dealt with adult concerns and had adults as the main characters. In both cases, these works, though good in themselves, were technically disqualified.
Quality of Editing
The Panel noted that there was an improvement in the quality of editing, especially in the works that were short listed. However, we came across books that were poorly edited, with some embarrassing grammatical errors. Some of the mistakes simply required looking up the correct usage in the dictionary. In one instance, concerning a play, we came across stage directions which were given after the speeches! In other cases, especially in some Kiswahili texts, attributives were written as complete sentences.
The Chair of the panel of judges was Prof Henry Indangasi- University of Nairobi, Department of Literature
