Cape Flats Literary Awards celebrates creative storytellers and artists
|Published
Cape Town - The Cape Flats has always been rich in talent, including some of the greatest storytellers around.
These authors were at the first Cape Flats Literary Awards held on Saturday at the Krystal Beach Hotel in Gordon’s Bay, where Shofar Books, formally known as Tshienda Publications, based in Kuils River, hosted the prestigious event.
Ninety of the Cape’s celebrated authors were listed for the awards.
Authors published by Shofar Books came from across South Africa, as well as from the US, to crown the deserving authors.
Strandfontein’s Stanley Jacobs from Cape Flats Stories, won the award for Best Novel in Afrikaaps.
Michelle Ohlsson from Michells Plain scooped an award for her Contribution to Literary Arts for her book, Without A Trace: The Matthew Ohlsson Story.
Robyn Le Roux won for her poetry collection, Daddy Issues, while Jeremy Dames; Theolla Langenhoven; and Latifah Jacobs were also among the recipients.
Jacobs said: “I never expected this, it’s an exciting experience, this gives me the motivation to write again after I have been on a writing break. I’m blessed.”
Ohlsson said: “Receiving this award is awesome, to be acknowledged for my book, is an overwhelming feeling. Haroldene worked on my book in 2021, and it was a milestone moment for me when I sent her the pages of my book and she turned it into something so amazing.”
The founder of Shofar Books, Haroldene Tshienda, said: “I nominated 90 authors published by Shofar Books, which was very difficult because they are all amazing writers. They won an award for Contribution to Literary Arts. This initiative was birthed when I received an award at the Cultural Affairs Awards 2016/17 for Contribution to Literary Arts.”
Tshienda said she felt compelled to place a spotlight on local writers, “I have helped hundreds of self-published authors to publish their work.
“However, there’s not enough or almost no platforms to help them grow in literature.
“I have experienced and noticed literary artist are underpaid, overlooked, undermined and do not receive enough recognition for their talents and work.
“I feel it’s time to change the narrative. We will not look at any institution or government to see us for who we are, we will stand up together as a literary community and rise.
“We will tell our stories and change the narrative of ‘self-published authors’. We will produce the best books that can last a lifetime.”
venecia.valentine@inl.co.za
Cape Argus