Mr Phakama Mbonambi visited his alma mater on Wednesday, 10 November to present a seminar about his brainchild, Wordsetc, a literary journal for which he is the publishing editor.
As the fourth and final of the Spring Seminar Series at the Rhodes English Department co-hosted by the School of Journalism and Media Studies, visiting lecturer Dr Lizzy Attree said Mr Mbonambi balances his fulltime job as the sub-editor at the Sunday Times with his Flamenco publishing company which publishes Wordsetc. She also mentioned Mbonambi‘s involvement in the new Zulu edition of the Sunday Times, “which was born this weekend”.
Shy and retiring, he started off by saying: “I’m not an academic, so sometimes I feel like a trespasser; I’m a journalist first and foremost.” He was Born in Durban and started off as a journalism student at Rhodes in 1993. Reminiscing about his student days at Rhodes he commented on how the Rhodes campus has changed over the years. “While here at Rhodes I remember that the English Department was held in high esteem among students. More than esteem actually. It was utter dread,” he joked.
Speaking about how the journal came about, he said his primary vision is to promote a reading culture and to create a platform for writers, particularly young, emerging writers. His appreciation for the widening circle of South African writers is apparent, as he feels the scope and breadth of our literature has intensified over the past 15 years. This certainly seems to be one of the secrets to the success of the project as the contributors write from their strengths; within the field they are most familiar with, and therefore most passionate about. “The idea was to challenge writers to write, to take them out of their comfort zones.”
Writers submit their work, which includes book reviews, essays and short stories. Occasionally a theme is chosen for the edition, such as Obama (in 2008) and Soccer (in the second quarter of 2010). The journal relies on advertising to turn a profit with subscriptions (boosted by regular book giveaways) forming the bulk of the reading market.
“We strive for a tone that is celebratory,” says Mbonambi. “We celebrate the fact that there is some writing happening in this country.” Slick and well put together, the journal has been well received with 15 000 copies distributed each quarter. And this is only two and a half years since its inception in 2007.
Words contributors are sought from South Africa and beyond our borders with Orhan Pamuk and Haruki Murakami included in the list of international literary luminaries. There is a version of the journal available online and USA residents are able to download certain pages onto their Kindle or IPad via the SA Books link called Little White Bakkie. Even though writers are not paid for their work-“writers realise there’s a lot of mileage in it for them,” as the online and print versions throws the net fairly wide.
Emphasising the insatiable appetite of the reading public- despite a poor reading culture, he says “we have very talented writers out there.”
Throughout the seminar, Mbonambi extended a clarion call for writers to submit their work for consideration. “You don’t have to aim for the New Yorker or Granta. We are here for you.”