An ‘insightful’ interview with Children’s book author, Tokozile Ngwenya

Tokozile N. Ngwenya is an author and writer of a book called “Bedtime Stories from the Kafue National Park” a collection of delightful, insightful and entertaining tales that will captivate young readers and teach them important lessons about respect, friendship and the power of unity. The Daily Nation Lifestyle recently interviewed her to get insight into her journey into the world of books and love for writing.

Asked at what point she decide to be an author/writer and what was the inspiration, Tokozile responded by saying, “This is my first book to be authored by myself, it was officially published on Amazon on 30 October 2023. It was released in Zambia on 2 November 2023 and I sold my first copy to a client on 3 November 2023 who lives and resides in the Netherlands. They took interest when I shared that I had just published a book and bought it without hesitation. I have been an author officially for 31 days, however I have been an author trapped in a writers body for several decades. I started writing fairly young and it happened gradually, it started with writing private notes in my diary as a child, then it developed into letters in my teenage years as that is the way we would communicate with friends and pen pals during our time. It fully blossomed in my young adult years as I became more expressive and confident in articulating my thoughts and ideas. During work I was always drawn to communication, however my role always involved the statistical side of things ‘monitoring and evaluation’ under a UK funded project in 2016. I was greatly involved with writing project reports, project proposals, and co-authoring scientific journals that have been published in influential and prestigious scholar journals. Little did I know that this was a training ground for what was to come”

“I believe you can never truly hide your gifts, during a much needed holiday to the Kafue National Park, a dear friend and mentor of mine asked me to write my raw experience of the holiday, they made sure a laptop was made available to me in the middle of the bush as my creative juices were flowing and I started to type, in fact I was late to the boat ride because my finger tips couldn’t stop tapping on the keyboard, I was in my zone. That write up ended up in the July / August 2021 edition of Nkwazi magazine in the travel section where I have been a Freelance Writer since July 2021. And as the famous saying goes, the rest is history”

When asked what the objectives of writing “Bedtime Stories from the Kafue National Park” were, Tokozile responded, “To introduce young readers to the rich wildlife and natural beauty of Kafue National Park, thereby piquing their interest in the national park and to help highlight environmental awareness through story telling. This can contribute to a greater appreciation for local tourism destinations among the younger generation, encouraging families to visit and explore their own country. Promote literacy among young readers by offering engaging and culturally relevant content. It encourages children to read and learn, improving their language skills and comprehension. Highlight environmental awareness through story telling the significance of the animals and ecosystems in Kafue National Park, contributing to wildlife conservation efforts in the region and thus bringing awareness on climate change. And encourage community engagment through the stories that promote cooperation and mutual respect, fostering a sense of community”

And when asked what she would say is the most difficult part of writing a book, Tokozile said, “The short answer, discipline. Writing a book requires discipline. There are so many stages that are involved in writing a book that I was not aware of before. I wrote the book in 2022 and it sat on my laptop gathering dust because even though the stories were complete, I could not find the zeal to begin the project of having it published until I had a life altering experience in May 2023 that forced me start working on the project. Secondly, publishing a Children’s Book in Zambia is a nightmare. Publishers are not willing to work with children’s books for several reasons, mainly, it is not a common genre in Zambia. This prompted me to source a publisher in South Africa. Thirdly, the financial cost is high. You genuinely have to love what you are doing and be passionate about it to the point the project is completed because so many things will happen along the way. In addition, printing in Zambia is so high, as you recall children’s books have colours that are appealing and attractive to the young readers, all this is a cost, however I strongly believe in good quality”