Top writers inspire in talk
Authors motivated to make contribution to society
AS PART of youth month, aspiring writer Bukelwa Ngoqo this week held a literary talk featuring Eastern Cape authors Professor Ncedile Saule, 75, and Monde Nkasawe, 51.
Ngoqo asked the six-time awardwinning author Saule and Nkasawe to speak to aspiring younger writers in a bid to bridge the generation gap.
They spoke of their inspirations and writing influences.
The talk was held on Thursday at the East London airport where Ngoqo has a crafts, arts and clothing boutique.
Saule said his choice to write mostly in isiXhosa was to give readers a first-hand encounter to avoid any context getting lost in translation.
“I discovered that I had a talent when I wrote my first book in 1984, but talent alone is not enough. In order to be a good writer I had to have the skills, do the research and read a lot of books in Xhosa and Afrikaans.
“Reading Afrikaans books, I learned that my Xhosa became very articulate and then I realised that the best translation was from Afrikaans to Xhosa and visa versa.
“Writing is a disease. You can’t just write because you have something to write. You need to find a muse.”
Saule said South African history and his real-life encounters were a big influence in his writing and it was important for the youth to know their history in this manner.
In contrast to Saule’s established writing material and years of experience, Nkasawe presented his latest offering The Fullness of Time, which was published at the beginning of the year in English.
Nkasawe said he started out four years ago and published three of his six books in the first year.
He posted a poem a day on his Facebook page but decided to collect all of his poems and publish them, which became his first offering, Journey of the Heart, as an alternative to an autobiography.
His latest offering, a tale about the rape of a young girl that turns into a village war, was written as a contribution to society during a pertinent time where such crimes were often swept under the rug.
“I’ve written these books as a contribution to our own stories, and by doing so in English, it immediately appeals to the South African market without creating any barriers.
“I have some Xhosa workings in the making because I do feel that as black people we are lagging far behind and we must promote our ideas because our power is not in being at the Union Buildings, it is in our contribution to society.”
Ngoqo has stocked the books of Eastern Cape authors in her shop, recognising the battle authors faced in getting their books to market.
“We commemorate this day by remembering the sacrifice of the youth of 1976, yet the questions remains: what have we made of the freedom we enjoy as a result of the sacrifices of the youth of ’76?” asked Ngoqo. — oreillya@timesmedia.co.za