BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
Manzini: Another one for the books!
The third instalment of the Swazi Fest Writers Awards took place on Friday at Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU).
The President of the Awards, Clement Dlamini, shared with this publication that the third instalment was a success. The winners received glass trophies and a Siswati dictionary. He said, “The Swazi Fest Writer’s Awards went well. This year’s awards were really big in terms of capacity. The speaker from Botswana came through for a panel discussion that lasted for an hour. A lot of local performers entertained the audience,” shared Dlamini.
Global speaker Tshepo Tselayakgosi, from Lesotho, was the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony. She is an author, career leadership strategist, business development consultant, and training facilitator. Some of the winners include Gospel artist Scara Maziya and columnist Alex Nxumalo, among others.
One of the winners, Fakazi Samuel, who won an award for his debut book, when reached for comment, said, “Well, I’m very grateful to God for the vision He gave to me and the support He constantly gives towards the fulfillment of each objective of the vision. First book and an award already; it can only be God’s doing. Many thanks to everyone who voted; may God do more for them! Big ups to Swazi Fest Writer’s Awards for such a wonderful platform that brings serious encouragement to Eswatini Writer’s,” shared the author, who is also a saxophonist.
Another winner, Nerville Johnson when reached for comment said, “I would first love to extend my thanks to those who nominated me. I feel honoured to be among other authors in the field of writing. I will also love to thank the team at the Writers Fest Awards for the marvellous job that they do. We know it’s not easy, but it’s possible. To the people who spent their money voting for me, I thank them for their good work. About the award, it tells me to work harder and do more work. It tells me not to relax until I obtain an international award. Thank you,” said the Johnson.
The Swazi Fest Writer’s Awards celebrate authors and writers in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The initial concept started in November 2021, when the first edition was hosted at the SibaneSami Hotel. The organisation founded the awards after identifying the necessity of appreciating, acknowledging, and honouring published authors and writers in the kingdom of Eswatini, trying to bridge the gap in the industry of writing and publishing books. Ever since our first edition, we have recorded over 100 published authors in the kingdom of Eswatini, and our statistics from research analysis state that we have a lot of writers in the country as they lack exposure and motivation.
It is worth mentioning that the writer’s awards are hosted annually in mid-December, and with the two editions, they have seen a target audience of authors, corporate executives, celebrities, social media influencers, and aspiring writers attend the event in great numbers. The Swazi Fest Writer’s Awards create a conducive and better environment for published and upcoming writers to get recognition through networking and socialising with like-minded personalities. Through this initiative, the non-profit organisation seeks to appreciate and motivate authors who are doing a great job soliciting ethical morals and advocating for phenomena based on specific subjects.
