South Africa has a rich, quality history in respect of black women's Writing, with a staggering amount of pertinent creative comprising fiction, short stories, poetry, drama etc published over the years.
Literary pundit, Tiisetso Thiba recently stated: "Where can one even start? Is it with Miriam Tlali, supremely talented, who became the first black woman in the country to publish a novel? What about Laureta Ngcobo, world class and sophisticated, who produced superb novels? Or Ellen Kuzwayo, author of the stunning work, Call Me Woman? These three women, all late now, have gone into history,"
Another world class female writer is Sindiwe Magona, who is still very much with us. Over the decades, she has produced literary masterpieces. So has the enigmatic NMM Duman, and younger black female writers like Futhi Ntshingila, whose work is scintillating.
Lorato Trok is another very important South African female writer, chronicler, biographer, and children's author. She has published a string of quality books over the years, and continues to do so.
Biographies might well be Trok's forte, as evidenced by the shining success of one of her books: Rosina Sedibane Modiba. On the whole, Trok continues to be in the vanguard in promoting the culture of reading, literacy and literature.
"All hands must be on deck for us to forge ahead in this wise," she says. "No stone should be left unturned in the process."
All time great South African (male) writer, Es'kia Mphahlele, always pays tribute to the strength, resilience and talent of women in his books, especially his classic, Down Second Avenue. It is no surprise that Trok also acknowledges the importance of her own mother, and aunt as she embraced the literary sphere.
Lorato Trok's new book is about another remarkable South African, SAUL SITHOLE. Trok explains: "I enjoyed writing the story of Ntate Saul Sithole. He gave the Transvaal Museum (now Ditsong Natural History Museum ) 62 years of his life in ornithology and anthropology, with no formal education ... but my goodness what a gift he had!"
Quality books... what a
gift…
