South African author, Marita van Aswegen writes poetry, short stories and novels for both children, young adults as well as adult readers. Her work has been published Afrikaans, Sesotho and English. Her books include Dance Thispo, dance (Kwela, 1997); Gavin’s Game (Masterskill Publishers, 2009) and Phapo’s Gift (Knowledge Thirst, 2010). In this interview, Marita van Aswegen talks about her writing: When did you start writing? I wrote my first story when in 1964 when I was fifteen. I sent it to a magazine ... but it was rejected. It was a love story and I sent it to Sarie . That was the favorite magazine of the sixties. I was a teenager and my mind was filled with roses and moonshine and the perfect love. What would you say motivated you to start writing? As long as I can remember, I always wanted to write a book. During the years when my children were small, I wrote essays and poems because essays are short and you can complete one in an hour or so. ( Small children do not gi...
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