19 Mar 2019

Three women namely; Jenny Robson, Pricillah Matara and Tumelo Mogotsi are winners of the third Poetavango short fiction for 2018.

Robson scooped position one and pocketed P3 000 and a certificate of appreciation.

Matara, who came second, won P2 000 and a certificate while Mogotsi who settled for third position, got P1 000 and a certificate.

The three were awarded during the Poetavango awards ceremony for short fiction at Nhabe Museum in Maun recently.

Speaking at the ceremony, director of Okavango Research Institute (ORI), Prof. Joseph Mbaiwa encouraged local writers to write beautiful stories about the famous Okavango Delta World Heritage Sites in order to market the country.

Prof. Mbaiwa said there was a lot to write about to market the country citing the delta, the diverse cultures, desert, wildlife noting that it was from such aspects, that quality stories could be penned, which defined Batswana as a nation.

He appreciated efforts by Poetavango to unearth talent in creative writing and advised fiction writers to graduate and become professional authors noting that they could not write short stories forever.

He also advised them to write stories, which would not bring harm to the nation but improved the lives of Batswana and contributed to building the nation.

Prof. Mbaiwa, who is also an author, underscored the need for all authors to be disciplined and observe the code of ethics in writing and produce factual pieces.

As ethical writers, he said they should also develop their skills by mingling with other professional writers adding that they should have mentors and coaches in order to excel in their works.

For authors to produce good pieces, he said it was important to know the guidelines hence interaction with others was critical for their growth.

To well-established writers, he said they should not be jealous of upcoming ones adding that they should develop them to become best writers.

He also advised authors to publish their works with accredited and authentic publishing houses.

Poetavango chairperson, Legodile Seganabeng explained that the literary contest started three years ago courtesy of the American Embassy and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development.

He said they introduced the initiative as part of the annual Maun International Arts Festival as they realised that writers were still struggling in the fraternity of writing adding that they had people who work hard but did not have enough platforms to showcase their crafts.

The literary competition focused only on the short story form for fiction writers living in Botswana and writers could submit stories in any fiction genre.

“As Poetavango, we wanted to develop creative writing and promote reading hence the initiative of short fiction because we believe that in order to write long stories, one must master short stories first,” he added.

Seganabeng said they capacitate writers through workshops to give them skills so that they could be able to compete internationally. Furthermore, he said even professional writers decried lack of support but stated that the movement wanted to collect stories and publish them as a way of promoting writers.

He hoped that one day, they would be able to host a residence for writers. Going forward, he said they wanted to see all aspects of writing be it non-fiction, long stories, films and novels.

One of the judges, Lauri Kubuitsile appreciated efforts by Poetavango towards improving writing in the country.

She said the standard of stories had improved and advised writers to respect their readers and communicate their messages with clarity and ease. ENDS