Chisiyanwa writes a brokenness memoir
Lemogang Chisiyanwa is a young Motswana woman who wrote Broken No More after the realisation that she had experienced brokenness that altered her view of life yet she was not aware of the change. The book has 11 chapters and 105 pages. It was self published in April 2021.
In an interview with Arts & Culture, she explained that the realisation brought her to an understanding that a lot of people are probably broken but they do not know. She said looking at how brokenness affects individuals, families and communities, she thought it would be best for her to sensitise Batswana about it. “I believe that by being aware of your brokenness and confronting it, a lot of societal problems we see today would be dealt with. My book is a memoir. I chose a memoir because I wanted to speak from my heart. In a world where there is a lot of pretense and keeping up appearances, I thought it would be best to address struggles that individuals face on a daily basis in their lives,” she said.
Chisiyanwa was born in Selebi-Phikwe and raised in Francistown. She comes from a family of five. She studied at the University of Botswana. She pointed out that her book targets everyone regardless of their differences because
all of them go through experiences that have potential to leave them broken if they do not deal with such situations properly. As you go through the book, you could be able to contextualise your experiences and hopefully see your story in hers. However, she said people who had father issues would relate more to the book.
“The message is that all of us experience brokenness at one point or another in our lifetime. How we deal (or not) with brokenness in our lives has far reaching effects. A lot of societal ills we see today could be directly attributed to unresolved brokenness. The book helps you to critically evaluate yourself, recognise your brokenness and how it has affected you. It also provides a detailed approach to confronting brokenness,” she said. She further explained that the challenges she faced writing the book included putting a very close deadline so she worked a bit under pressure. She added that she also had to go back and forth with designers and editors and it was strenuous. Chisiyanwa added that she managed to write, publish and launch her book within the time frame she had set for herself. “I had a lot of support from friends and family. I would like to thank them for their patience in making the book what it is.
Some had to listen while I read chapters so they advised on the flow as well as grammar, some had to proof read over and over again. My advice to young aspiring authors out there is simple; start writing. If you do not start, your dream will never materialise. It will get a bit difficult and overwhelming sometimes, but remember why you started,” she said.