How about a tea party? One where we can invite all our favourites, likes of Nelson Mandela, Miriam Makeba, Nadine Gordimer, Hugh Masekela and Winnie Mandela.
When you have the audacity to not only believe, but to also create magic, this tea party, with all of its servings of great South Africans, must be a regular experience. What better way to have others, especially children, experience this sort of magic than through an enchanting book.
Recently, Nokthula Mazibuko Msimang, a children’s book writer for the past 25 years and writing fellow at University of Pretoria, launched her book, Soweto Tea Party at 27 Boxes’ African literature book store, Book Circle Africa. There, surrounded by family, friends and fans alike, she read this autobiographical book to an audience she delighted with every turn of the page.
Set in the 70s and 80s, this book, which is dedicated to her mother and father, follows the relationship between a father and daughter. A father who, even given the turbulent nature of South Africa at the time, encouraged his daughter to believe in the magic she could create for herself, making use of the music and freedom stories she was told. “My father, Fanya Mazibuko, is a peace-loving man, and his stories of freedom kept us mentally strong.”
Her father was a freedom fighter, who, once he came out of prison, was put under house arrest. During this time no guests could come to the house. “I wanted this book to be a snapshot of joy, that encourages people never to give up.”
Her earliest memories of books was this big bookshelf at home and she always wondered how inconvenient it was as there wasn’t much space in the house but there stood this big bookshelf. “I loved books, I owned my very first hardcover book, one of fairy tales like Cinderella, and I must have been about six or seven years old.” For as long as she can remember she loved telling and hearing stories, and, though not a conscious decision, just found herself in the world of words.
For her, the beauty of African literature is that even before she would physically travel the continent, she first did so through books. “For me this gave me many lifetimes across many countries, in African literature I found myself in these stories.”
Now having travelled Africa, she feels blessed for having seen it through words and then visiting those countries.
Mazibuko hopes that from the book children will see that should they be faced with an issue, they can always reach within themselves to be resilient and mentally strong. A sentiment she wants passed onto the next generation.
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