By IRENE MOYO AUTHOR and poet Wisdom Ncube (29) is elated that his anthology, Words of Wisdom has been nominated for the fifth edition of the AfriCAN Honoree Awards set for July 31 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The annual awards, founded by respected literary enthusiast Thyssen Ambursley, seek to honour both writers of children and adult works across the globe.
The Bulawayo-based Ncube told NewsDay Life & Style that the death of his mother prompted him to self-publish the book.
“My late mother believed in my writing gift and after years of having scripting unpublished work, I was moved after she passed on last year to self-publish my anthology,” he said.
“All my poems address day-to-day issues that we face and it is very relatable to the African child. I tackle topics of love, poverty, life, the girl child as well as hope, to name just a few.”
Ncube said he felt honoured to be nominated for the awards.
“When I saw an opening for book submissions for the awards, I decided to also submit my book, Words of Wisdom. I am really happy as a patriotic citizen to actually represent my country on the continental stage,” Ncube added.
As a freelance writer for some online magazines, Ncube’s blog was last year nominated at the 2021 AfroBloggers Awards under the Expressive category.
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Even though he did not win, Ncube said the gesture was a morale booster for him to keep on writing.
“I want every aspiring writer to know that it is possible to pursue their dream against all odds. I self-published, and it was not an easy road,” he said.
“In the next five years, I want to set up a publishing house which will also be a consultancy that will accommodate young writers with raw talent to be able to publish and to mentor them to become who they aspire to be in the writing industry.”
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