Stories of extraordinary women worldwide
KOGIE Archary-Parthab may be in her early 50s, but the mother of three has just added author to her cap.
The Durban North resident, an executive committee member of the Oral History Association of South Africa, recently launched her first book, a coffee table publication, Tell Your Mother’s Story.
“It is a compilation of stories of ordinary women, who have made an extraordinary contribution to those they have come into contact with. The stories are from across oceans, mountains and rolling hills – from women from the African continent to women who have settled in Asia and so much more.
“The fondest memory I have of working on this book is the interaction I had with the individual authors. With each one, I learnt something new that I did not know before. Creative and non-academic writing is usually an emotional exercise and so, with some of the writers, I experienced the emotional aspect as well as the editing aspect.”
The academic, who enjoys cooking on the outside fire, launched the book on three occasions in July and August.
“The first release was at the Glenashley Library, which was a joint 67 minutes project, where I spoke about my book and we had interesting speeches relating to women, and celebrated the life and times of Mama Winnie Madikizela Mandela. We also launched the book at the Durban North Library and recently at MANCOSA in honour of Women’s Month.”
Speaking on becoming an author, Archary-Parthab said: “I am humbled. It has been an interesting and significant journey and a truly rewarding one. I have witnessed the unfolding and rolling out of the success storylines. It has been a great task to pay tribute to the women, who have come before me, and it’s a great feeling that I was able to find my place in society and make a difference for future generations.”
For enquiries on the book, email ohasafundraising@gmail.com