Written by: Carissa Marnce

A creative writing workshop was held on Saturday at the Alan Pittendigh Library, Steve Biko Campus, where the Durban University of Technology’s Writing Centre Coordinator Dr Gift Mheta, urged writer to be fearless in their writing and discuss issues that face society.

The aim of the workshop meant to provide a broader explanation of the African Heritage writing competition which comprises of three categories namely short stories, poetry and essays.

Speakers included Dr Mheta, Mari Pete and Ntokozo Zulu. Mheta enlightened students about the famous African writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o. The Kenyan writer was imprisoned by the Kenyan government because of his honest writing.

Pete encouraged the audience to “Continuously write whenever you can”.

“I wrote a poem to prepare my daughter for the world,” said Pete.

Zulu encouraged students to find their individual voice in writing so that the audience can resonate with their work.

“I feel like I can win the competition now. I’ve realised where I am going wrong in my work. I can now grow in my creative and academic work,” said Nothile Mbatha, a journalism student.

In his conclusion, Mheta stated that students do not read for leisure anymore but only do so if they have been assigned to a task within their discipline.

Applications for the writing competition are available at the DUT Writing Centres across campuses and close on the 19^th July 2017.

*Caption: The Durban University of Technology’s Writing Centre Coordinator Dr Gift Mheta with a journalism student.