Buki Papillon’s debut novel An Ordinary Wonder won the Maya Angelou Book Award, presented by the Kansas City Public Library, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and five other universities in the state.

Buki was announced as their winner on Wednesday 16th November at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. An Ordinary Wonder was chosen out of more than 100 submissions and is the prize’s first ever fiction winner. It was nominated for how it highlights the limiting dangers of the gender binary, while providing hope of a more inclusive world beyond it.

Named for acclaimed, Missouri-born memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, the prize celebrates contemporary writers whose work demonstrates their commitment to social justice. It alternates annually between poetry and fiction, going this year to the author of a work of fiction.

The award was established in 2020 by the Kansas City Public Library, UMKC, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri State University, and Northwest Missouri State, Truman State, and Southeast Missouri State universities.

About An Ordinary Wonder:

"My name is Otolorin. I've been called monster. Within dark valleys of flesh I defy the given - a snake curled in upon itself, two-in-one, mythical and shunned. Yet, in that magic place between worlds, in the realm where the great mother gives milk to her offspring, I become like a goddess. An Ordinary Wonder is a powerful coming-of-age story that explores complex desires as well as challenges of family, identity, gender, and culture, and what it means to feel whole"