Meet Vryheid’s youngest author

WHILE most of her peers dream of becoming musical stars and television sensations, Zimele Mnguni has her eye set on a different prize.

This local 14 year-old would like to become an established author and has already released her first book titled ‘Liana’s Surprise’.

According to this young woman she has always loved reading, and she believes that this is what gave rise to her love for writing.

“Whenever I felt sad or lonely, I began to turn to writing to seek comfort,” she said.

Her book, which is about a little girl who is sent away from Swaziland to a small rural town in northern KwaZulu Natal, touches on various issues about family, trust and learning to forgive.

“I really cannot pinpoint where my inspiration for that story came from, once I started working on it, it just seemed to unfold itself before me,” she explained.

Her mother, Bee Buthelezi said that initially it was hard for her to grasp that this was her daughters passion and that she was working hard to perfect her craft.

“When I first read the draft version of her novel I became very worried about her because of the depth in the issues she was discussing. I thought that maybe she was depressed or hurt and I spent a very long time trying to convince her that she could tell me anything,” she said.

It became clear that the depth in Zimele’s story was due to her incredible love for the craft of writing.

Last year, her mother introduced her daughter to local author and member of the Vryheid Writers Association SSS Mhlungu.

“I was shocked to see such a young child being so keen on writing. The story that she wanted me to help her publish was extremely deep and emotional, so much so that I felt very concerned and called both mother and child to come and see me to see if it was not a family matter,” said Mr Mhlungu.

He soon realised that there was nothing to worry about as the young author explained that she had drawn inspiration from within.

“She is the first young person whose work I have published and editing her work was a very easy task,” he said in conclusion adding that there would soon be a Zulu version to the book as he was currently working on translating it.

The young author said that she hopes to release more books, and hopefully release a bestseller someday.

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