It is a bold and beautiful thing to know what it is you want to create in the world and believe in it so deeply that you will attain it no matter how your life’s journey may look.
Take, for instance, Refiloe Moahloli, her love for reading as a child is one that matured as she did. So much so that she recently celebrated the release of her seventh children’s book Part of a Team, marking the great feat with a book reading at the Melville-based African literature bookshop, Book Circle Capital.
ALSO READ: New children’s production to take centre stage at Parktown theatre
The book, which is a sequel to Know My Name, is her first chapter book and follows the journey of twins Morena and Rorisang as they navigate a new school with all its associated challenges, not just for them, but the entire family.
Moahloli said she writes because as a child she would always read, and loved getting immersed in the stories. “When it came time to decide what it was I was going to do with my life and I started to consciously think about it, it just made sense that I would be a writer.”
Her dream was one day she too would love to create stories that have an impact on others as the books she read had on her.
These were, however, the bold thoughts of a teenager and she first studied for a Bcom Information Systems and later worked in telecommunications for about seven years, then moved to India for a few years to work.
But she always knew writing was going to be her end game and in her late 20s, she resigned and started writing full-time.
“Writing for children came in a time where I was inspired by children in my life and observing my nieces at the time,” she explained.
ALSO READ: Seven organising tips for children’s rooms
She then took the time to understand the skill of writing for children as it was a specialised competence. “I got lost in it and realised it is such a powerful genre and powerful space to work in because of the impact it can have on children.”
From her latest book she hoped, among many other aspects, readers took with them the understanding that they are not alone.
To aspirant writers, Moahloli said there could be a perception of fame or great notoriety associated with the idea of being a writer but there was a lot of work and great passion that went into it.
“For me, what is most important is authenticity because there is so much of me I am sharing, I write from a place of truth and that I found to be the most relatable thing because as human beings we connect to each other through experiences.”
ALSO READ: Northcliff”s very own children’s book writer
