The author behind Bank Your Story on why Africans have always told stories and now need to own them.
Katlego Sekhu
Author, publisher and cultural activist Nomawele Njongo recently joined DJ Fresh and Thato for the Kaya Creators Corner on Kaya Breakfast to talk about her new book, Bank Your Story, and the R3,000 that started an international literary festival.
The writing started early. As a child, she says, her family gave her a name meaning “the one who writes” because she would write in the air with her finger.
“They were not familiar with book writers,” she says.
On 29 June 2022, she noticed that her town had never hosted a literary festival or any literary event. She wrote the plan on her whiteboard, set a date of 8 September and started making calls with R3,000 in her pocket. The first person she called offered the venue.
That first call was the hardest part.
“Before, I grew up very scared to go ask from a person. I’m not good in asking, but Funda Mpondo taught me to ask.”
She went on to approach local businesses, the local radio station and the local newspaper for partnerships, promising to acknowledge their support in return. When the festival happened, 196 people from seven provinces attended.
“A story that is not yet born doesn’t stand a chance to survive.”
Njongo, a twin and the mother of two boys, named her publishing house, Kwazi Tina, after her sons. Through her new book, she argues that Africans have long been storytellers but now need to own what they tell.
“Now we need to change and own our stories. From owning our stories we start recognising the value of our stories.”
Not every story has to make money, she says. “Other stories are for preservation.” Her concern is creators who are left out while others profit from their work.
“Whatever you create, whether you create books, whether you create music, you need to understand the business of your art,” she says. “We need to protect the work that we have done so that we pass on to the generation. You must be legacy conscious.”
That thinking extends to the next generation. Through the Africa Teen Authors Book Initiative, Njongo has published more than 160 young writers. Over the years they have written on COVID-19, the impact of social media on teens, the cultures of Africa and the Africa they want. She uses storytelling to promote pan-Africanism, self-development and leadership.
“I’ve been promoting the collaboration among them. And I’m seeing them collaborating already.”
For writers who want to publish with her, the process starts with a completed manuscript, a synopsis and a short bio. Her advice goes beyond the writing itself, because readers who do not yet know an author buy the person first.
“If you imagine yourself in the bookshelf, would you buy yourself? If you can’t buy yourself, you have to work on yourself.”
She practises what she preaches. Njongo landed her Kaya Breakfast interview by sending a direct message on Instagram, then following up.
“The biggest risk in life is to take no risk at all.”
Bank Your Story is available at Exclusive Books at Cape Town Airport and Rosebank Mall, and directly from Kwazi Tina Publishers.
To hear the full interview, listen to the podcast.
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