Polokwane author tells of where it all began
SMASHING stereotypes and questioning gender equality is what award-winning Polokwane author and public sociologist, Shafinaaz Hassim, is passionate about.
Hassim, 40, has penned several books over the years and is acclaimed for creating shifts in consciousness and questioning stereotypes that no longer serve society.
She moved to Johannesburg to study her undergraduate degree in architecture at the University of the Witwatersrand and also has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Masters in sociology.
After graduating, she worked in research, corporate and academic spheres at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of KwaZulu-Natal – her primary focus was on gender and Islam.
In 2014, Hassim returned to Polokwane and now writes full time.
“I’ve always had a penchant for writing but my first love was and still is reading,” she said.
“I’ve kept a journal since I was eight years old. My father used to encourage me to write daily and he especially prompted me to write about our family holidays. I also have an online blog from 2005, which was eventually published as my second book, Memoirs for Kimya.”
Her foray into the world of published works was when her thesis, Daughters are Diamonds, was entered in a Sunday Tribune competition.
It was published in 2007 and a series of articles and conversations had been sparked from there along with her writing career.
She said she lectured courses in gender and sociology based on the book.
Her fictional books and personal favourites, SoPhia (which gave rise to a theatre production by University of Johannesburg students for their social work course) and the recently published Nisa Qamar highlight themes that affect women.
These books respectively highlight domestic abuse and a 10-yearold girl, who has to choose between good and evil.
She said these anthologies showcased strong female protagonists and social issues encouraging further conversation in readers. In 2014, Hassim wrote a story titled Pink Oysters, which dealt with diamond smuggling and slumlords in Johannesburg.
The book was selected for publication as part of a Unesco initiative called the Africa39.
Her previous work has been shortlisted for the UJ Creative Writing Prize and the prestigious K Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award in 2013.
She has also been listed in Hay Festival’s category of top 39 writers under the age of 40 in Africa during the London Book Fair 2014.
Hassim said she drew her ideas for her books from research – using fiction as a vehicle of conversation around difficult social ills like violence or trafficking.
Hassim said she was inspired by meeting the right people at the right time and mentors, who include her nieces and nephews – “who deliver life’s messages at the correct time”.
She is currently working on her second instalment in the Nisa Qamar series. It focuses on bullying at school.
An adult novel is expected to be released next year.