Celebrated author and poet, Sabata-mpho Mokae, has received two M-Net Literary Awards at a ceremony held in Sandton, Gauteng. Both awards are for his debut Setswana novel Ga ke modisa.
The first award was for best novel in Setswana and the second for the film award. The film award is earmarked for a book that has the potential to be turned into a film by the M-Net channel — the sponsor of the awards. This year there were 96 entries in all eleven official languages.
Mokae was the only one to receive two awards. "I enjoyed writing the book because I believed in the story. But I did not expect an award, let alone two because this is my very first work in my mother tongue. These awards were a pleasant surprise," he told The New Age yesterday. In 2011 he won the South African Literary Award.
Mokae, who hailed from Kimberley, has contributed to several books of poetry and black history. As a Sol Plaatje scholar, in 2010 he released a biography, The Story of Sol T Plaatje. He regularly takes part in the Writers' Festival in Kimberley and the Sol Plaatje Literary Festival in Mafikeng, North West. Last year he launched an anthology of poetry, Escaping Trauma, which was followed by Ga ke modisa, the story of two brothers.
One is a mayor and another a journalist. Unfortunately when the mayor gets corrupt, it is his brother who has to expose him To add to the intrigue, the brothers are in love with the same woman. Mokae is completing a master's degree in creative writing at Rhodes 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网. He is also writing a sequel to the award-winning book. provinces@thenewage.coza
Caption: CELEBRATED: Author and poet Sabata-mpho Mokae with his two M-Net Literary Awards for his Setswana novel Ga ke modisa.
By Zanidisile Luphahla
Article Source: THE NEW AGE