An authors’ workshop was recently held at eMondlo Library.
This was an initiative by Kwetso, partnering with the Literary Outreach Incubation Programme and the Department of Sport, Arts & Culture. Among those in attendance were professional author William Zulu, publisher Nelly Shozana and librarian Mr Mfeka, as well as many aspiring writers.
Bongi Madhlala (emerging author and facilitator of these programmes) said the main reason for the event is because there is an increase in the number of people from rural areas who want to enter the field of writing and publishing.
Experts were given an opportunity to advise and give direction to aspiring writers.
They spoke about the challenges they had faced in this field in terms of structuring and how to ensure that readers stay glued to your book. Up-and-coming writers were also told about the importance of writing academic books and how these are valued in communities. Writers were told to first do thorough research about their chosen topic.
As a renowned publisher, Nelly Shozana elaborated on the process a book goes through before being published. She spoke about proof-reading, editing, sentence aligning and how the cover must be attention-grabbing and align with the title of the book.
Mr Mfeka said it is amazing to see local people who are authors, as people enter libraries and read what one of their own has written. They then relate to it in their own way.
Madhlala explained that, “When you have a book, even though you only sell three copies in a month’s time, it makes a change in the household. Being an author is a job in itself.” She also shared some of the challenges that emerging authors face, from marketing to sales.
Books were donated to the aspiring authors.
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