13 Mar 2019

A young Motswana author is using the power of her voice to further conversations about mental health through her book The Poetic Beauty: Within My Sorrow.

Speaking in an interview, Bame Thokwane, who recently launched the book at Culture Art Café in Gaborone, described it as a collection of poems that document her journey with depression and anxiety. 

Popularly known as Bame the Writer, the 24-year-old author said the book was first launched in the United Kingdom via Amazon. 

“I have been a writer since my junior school days and this book features many poems, the first of which was written in 2011,” she said. 

She further indicated that she was happy with her Botswana launch as readers, mental health activists, bloggers, social media influencers and the media attended. 

Bame the Writer further said the book launch featured recitals from her book, Sejoe Matsheka and Wathuto Pearl David. 

“A key highlight of the launch was a panel discussion which included me, mental health activist, Ratanang Mosweu, representatives of the Botswana Network for Mental Health. The discussion focused on non-traditional ways of dealing with mental health challenges,” she said.

She noted that many people who lived with mental health challenges did not have access to mental health practitioners nor the funds to buy medication for their condition. 

She went on to say that although it was her first publication, she had always been an advocate of mental health as in 2014 she founded an NGO called Let It Out. 

Thokwane said the NGO was geared towards fighting issues of abuse and educating victims on dealing with their mental health after being abused. 

“In 2018 I started and ran a Facebook page with more than 1 000 followers. The page is called Poetry to fight mental illness, Let it out, and my articles on The Patriot On Sunday are some of the few ways I have been trying to raise awareness,” she said. 

She further said the launch of her book was a way to combine all her efforts with the support of various stakeholders to improve the efficiency of society’s conversation about mental health. 

Thokwane went on to note that mental health was an important topic of which Botswana still had a long way to go, especially when it came to the youth. 

She said although The Poetic Beauty was about her experiences, it translated to readers as they found it relatable, and that it was meant to not only help readers who could identify with the experiences, but also to open dialogue among the youth through a medium that they could appreciate. 

“The Poetic Beauty is not merely a book. It is the key needed to facilitate the conversation around mental health in Botswana. In a country where so many young people talk with fear and sometimes not at all about their struggles with mental health, this book is intended to help eliminate that fear,” concluded Bame The Writer. 

One reader who bought the book on Amazon described the book as an amazing collection of poems, and that the poems captured different stages of losing and finding one’s self as depression and other dark stuff take over one’s life. 

“There is an element of finding healing too. It is an all-around great book, honest, heart-breaking and very relatable too,” wrote the reader. 

Copies of the book are available for sale, and those wishing to purchase the book can place their orders on the Facebook page Bame The Writer or email bamethewriter@gmail.com. ENDS