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Press release: Congratulations to emerging writers of fiction and non-fiction 2024

The Jakes Gerwel Foundation (JGF) and NB Publishers are proud to announce the emerging writers of fiction and non-fiction selected to be part of their Bosberg book writing mentorship programme in 2024. They are Theolla Langenhoven, Adele Ross, Alfred T.M. (Thato) Rossouw and Daneel Jantjies.

Theolla, Thato and Daneel are returnees to Paulet House, as they were all participants in JGF, LitNet and Huisgenoot’s Kommadagga workshop for short story writers in 2020 and 2023 respectively. This time they were selected by Kwela Books (an imprint of NB Publishers) to work on refining their manuscripts under the guidance of seasoned editors/mentors Suzette Myburgh for the Afrikaans writers and Angela Briggs for the English writers.

The Bosberg mentees will travel to KwaNojoli four times (in March and at the end of May, August, and November) to work with their mentors. Their completed manuscripts will be handed back to NB Publishers at the end of the year where it will be considered for publication.

University of the Western Cape Department of Social Work staffer, postgraduate student and award-winning poet and short story writer Theolla is returning to Paulet House still very much in a dream state.

“It still feels like a dream, even though I received the news a few days ago. I am still trying to work through my feelings because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I, the girl from Belhar, was chosen! Wow! Wow! Wow!”

Theolla will be working on her manuscript Hou jou man dop, an anthology of short stories which Kwela recommends that she rewrite as a novel. “I am the first to acknowledge I need mentorship to guide me with the writing and proofreading phases. I am eager to learn, mainly because I am an emerging writer with no academic creative writing background, which at times feels as if I am ‘lacking’,” she says.

Adele Ross, a copywriter for UK companies, blurb writer on Amazon and blogger for Cape Town Insider, Beauty SA and Women24, will take her love of English and writing to another level when she flies off to the Eastern Cape in a few days’ time.

Her road to mentorship began four years ago when she submitted her manuscript to Kwela in the hope of it being accepted for publishing. Just having completed changes to her manuscript, Adele says: “I’m hoping to have my manuscript published as a hard copy and have it submitted to become a miniseries for television.”

Freelance editor and writer Alfred T.M. (Thato) Rossouw is returning to Paulet House just four months after his last stay there. “Well, this, to be honest, is the best news I’ve gotten this year. I never knew that the work I did could get anyone interested, let alone have them choose my manuscript as worthy enough to have a respected editor and publisher interested in getting it to a point where it can be published. Like I said after the Kommadagga mentorship programme, I am a better writer because of the Jakes Gerwel Foundation. So, knowing that I’m going back because of my writing, this makes me believe in my writing even more.

“It’s difficult to find words that can explain what it feels like to have people see your writing as worthy. I’m still shaking while trying to write down how this makes me feel,” says Thato.

Author bios

Theolla Langenhoven

Theolla Langenhoven (1982) currently works at the University of the Western Cape after years of being a government employee. Through her writing, she hopes to link her years of community work, her love for administration, and her knowledge of psychology and criminology to shed light on the social ills experienced within communities. Her short stories and articles have been published in Kuier. Her poems have appeared in the Lekka Poems anthology and in 2023 she published a prayer book for teenagers, Die Here kom sterk deur. She considers it a privilege to have been a participant in the Kommadagga workshop for short story writers in 2020. In 2023 she received an AfriCAN Honoree Authors’ Award.

Adele Ross

Adele Ross (1984) has been steadily improving her writing skills since childhood, when she wrote letters to her mom who worked as a night nurse, telling of how her day went and keeping her updated about all the happenings she missed. From there, her love of English and writing poetry and short stories while still in school led her to a lifetime of storytelling that helped her overcome the trauma of school bullying. This in turn led to her first unpublished book. Unfazed, she kept on writing, leading to a career in blogging for Cape Town Insider, Beauty SA and Women24. Adele currently does copywriting for few UK companies and writes blurbs for self-help books on Amazon.

Alfred T.M. Rossouw

Alfred T.M. Rossouw (1991) is a South African writer and editor with over five years of writing, editing, blogging and book reviewing experience. He has worked across many industries in both the public and private sectors, including in the arts. He currently works as a freelance editor and writer, most notably as a freelance editor for FunDza Literacy Trust and Geko Publishing. Under the penname Thato Rossouw, he has authored articles for publications such as News24, Mail & Guardian, Africanah Magazine, Art State, Huffington Post and Sunday Times.

Daneel Jantjies

Daneel Jantjies is a Swellendammer born and bred and describes herself as a ‘small town girl with big dreams’. She mainly writes poetry and short pieces that are inspired by her environment and its people: ‘Small villages, I reckon, are any writer’s dream. There is always something to notice or hear and the near silence of the countryside just gives you that more inspiration to write.’ She is very close to her family and they make up a big chunk of who she is. Also, the shared love of reading and writing, of literature and language, is something that has nourished her since her childhood. While Daneel, the writer, and Daneel, the ordinary person, are not always identical, her writing reflects the same person-centricity that her everyday interaction with people shows: ‘Life takes strange twists and turns, so if my writing can help or inspire someone, this will mean succeeding in my goal.’

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