Gama aims to provide a platform for upcoming artists to advance their crafts and paves the way for even greater stages to showcase these. Xulu is the winner of the best female poet for the 2019 and 2020 Gama awards. She hoped that winning the award this year would revitalise her to produce more vigorous content.
“Winning an award encourages one to do more. Winning the current category I am nominated for will motivate me to ensure that I present quality material to my readers,” she said.
To help her realise this dream, vote for her by SMSing “GAMA 362” to 47439. The voting lines will be open until September. This hard-working woman manages her time well as she juggles between her daily work, studies and penning her books.
“Balancing being a working mum, an author and a part-time student can be quite a challenge as they are equally important, and therefore, in my time allocation, I must ensure that none of them overlaps,” she said.
Xulu has published The Undying Spirit of a Woman, Volume 1 to 4. During the lockdown period she penned her latest two reads. The Pink Couch entails English short stories and poems, and an IsiZulu poetry anthology titled Inkatha, published 2020 and 2021 respectively. Her books reflect on real-life issues and are suitable for high school learners and above.
“I publish interesting reads and everyone should be able to find a thing or two that will resonate with them. It will give an understanding of various environments, and teach the reader to be able to be compassionate towards others as there is always a reasonable explanation behind every person’s next action,” she said.
One of her short stories, The Kraal Baby, was featured in Drum in May last year. In 2019, she was invited to be part of Articulate Africa. She met other influential artists during the informative workshops incorporated as part of the programme to sharpen their knowledge.
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