25 Jan 2016

“I write because I have authority from life to do so...I have built up a kind of people religion that is rooted in the African soil. My world opposes the world of politicians. 

They plan for and dictate to the people. In my world people plan for themselves and dictate their requirements to me. It is a world full of love, tenderness, happiness and laughter...I am building a stairway to the stars. I have the authority to take the whole of mankind up there with me. That is why I write..,” this was said by Bessie Head in 1985 shortly before her death when she answered the question, Why do I write? And it comes at an opportune time when writers were being celebrated at the Bessie Head Short Story Competition held at the National Museum in Gaborone.

The competition was offered last year by the Bessie Head Heritage Trust (BHHT) in association with Diamond Educational Publishers and the trust believes that through literature and all forms of cultural imagination, both personal spirit and national identity are nurtured and strengthened.

Professor Peter Mwikisa, the chairperson of the heritage trust said during the awards ceremony that a creative writer must never fear to write.

“Like sport, writers also need guidance and mentorship for them to realise their full potential,” he said.

He further said good writers read a lot and one can learn by seeing how others do things, but sadly, this is where the majority of Batswana writers fail.

Professor Mwikisa advised the gathering to read.

“Read locally, continent wide and books from all over the world for within their pages one can find the school for writers, or at least part of it,” he said.

The heritage trust board member, Dr Leloba Molema gave the history of the prize during an interview and said it started in 2007 in conjunction with Bessie Head’s 70^th birthday which was celebrated in Serowe that year.

“Since the first awards, the prize has grown. In total we have received 353 entries over the five years. The Bessie Head Award is only for entries in English,” she said, adding that they did not have the award in 2012, 2013 and 2014 as they were re-evaluating it.

Dr Leloba Molema had earlier read a letter that Bessie Head had written when she had come from her second stint at a psychiatric hospital.

The winners for 2015 are  Donald Molosi, The Biggest Continent, who got position one and Siyanda Mohutsiwa, And Then We Disappeared into Some Guy’s Car and Vamika Sinha, Love and Other Almosts, who got position two and three respectively.

 The winners also had the opportunity to read out their short stories except for Molosi who was said to have not been able to make the trip from the US to Botswana due to his travelling documents being stolen. Ends