The TBC Penmanship Awards 2026 winners were revealed at the Jain Bhavan Auditorium in Nairobi.
Under the theme Across Ages, Across Pages, the awards celebrate books by Kenyan authors, with nominations drawn from bestselling titles.
The Text Book Centre (TBC), the host of the awards, selected winners across six categories spanning fiction and non-fiction for different age groups: adults, teens and children.
The awards also recognise lifetime achievement, outstanding school libraries, and junior writers.
This year’s sponsors include Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Kenya Literature Bureau, Queenex Publishers, East African Educational Publishers, Oxford University Press and The 7 Priceless Gifts.
Receiving her second runner-up award for Confessions of Nairobi Men and Women: The Last Chapter, author Joan Thatiah said: “And then, one day, the girl with the books became the woman writing them.”
Winners
Lifetime Achievement Award
Prof Eddah Gachukia
Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Dr Mary Okello (Makini School)
Dr Manu Chandaria
Children
Noah and the Rainbow Promise by Dr Anuradha Khoda (Sponsored by Queenex Publishers)
Super Lisu: Road Trip Trouble, Bk 4 by Yolanda Chakava (Sponsored by East African Educational Publishers)
Financial Literacy for Kids by Edwin Kiarie (Sponsored by Spotlight Publishers)
Junior Authors
The Big Tomato by Joseph Laight of Potter House School (Sponsored by Storymoja Africa)
Inside Africa by Joseph Yohan Ayiro of Woodcreek Schools (Sponsored by Made Familiar Publishers)
Kyla to the Land of Magic by Maya and Nia Muchiri from Kiota School Ltd (Sponsored by Mentor Publishers)
Teens
My First Time by Janet Mbugua (Sponsored by HarperCollins)
Menstrupedia Comic: The Confidence Queen by Nancy Akeyo (Sponsored by Moran Publishers)
Mkuu: Mbona Hivi by Shullam Nzioka (Sponsored by Oxford University Press)
Adult
Big Little Fights by Jackson Biko (Sponsored by The 7 Priceless Gifts)
Confessions of Nairobi Men and Women: Last Chapter by Joan Thatiah (Sponsored by Green for Life)
Rough Silk by Deborah Ouko (Sponsored by HarperCollins Publishers)
Special Awards
Outstanding School Library Award
Peponi House (Sponsored by Penguin Random House and Kenya Literature Bureau)
Reading Culture Excellence Award
Light International Karen (Sponsored by Cambridge University Press & Assessment)
Emerging School Library Award
St Bakhita School (Sponsored by Pearson)