Her Story: Daughters of Modjadji/Umlando Wakhe: Amadodakazi endlovukazi uModjadji, the first publication by Khaloza Books, will be launched in February.

Since March 2017, newly established publishing company Khaloza Books began working on their first publication with three incredible female authors; Natasha Allie, Baba-Tamana Gqubule and Thandiwe Matthews.

Her Story/Umlando Wakhe is the first in a planned children’s book series for 7- to 12-year-old girls that features 30 South African women whose lives inspire.

The first title in this series, Daughters of Modjadji/Amadodakazi endlovukazi uModjadji, features women in the book from diverse settings, sectors and spheres of life. Their stories reflect not only the multiple roles that women play in society, but also the obstacles they face as a result of race, class and most importantly; their gender.

The book is centred on themes of affirmation, identity and gender. The stories are accompanied by vivid illustrations and interactive comic strips. The empowerment of girls is a fundamental building block of the publication, as seen by most of the writers and illustrators in the book being female.

The book will be published as a reversible English and isiZulu book in the first year with other languages in the next three years. Her Story/Umlando Wakhe will be available in both print and e-book formats in selected stores from February 2018.

The 30 featured South African women and women’s groups are:

1. Nonhlanhla Khumalo. The Hair Doctor
2. Thandi Klaasen. Redefining Beauty
3. Caster Semenya. Be Yourself
4. Zanele Muholi. Art as Activism
5. Nkhensani Nkosi. Wear Your African Pride
6. Zoleka Mandela. To Forgive Yourself
7. POWA. Fighting Power
8. Emma Mashinini. Fighting for Workers’ Rights
9. Charlotte Maxeke. A Woman’s Place
10. Ferial Haffajee. Editor at Large
11. Umanyano. Collective spirit
12. Prudence Mabele. Breaking the Silence
13. Natalie du Toit. Just Keep Swimming
14. Ncumisa Jilata. A Head for Brains
15. Kitty Phetla. The Girl Who Can Fly
16. Nonkululeko Gobodo. Dare to Dream
17. Portia Modise. She’s Got Game
18. Frene Ginwala. Madam Speaker
19. Terry Pheto. A Leading Lady
20. Yvonne Mokgoro. Ubuntu
21. Marina Maponya. The Story of a Family Empire
22. Tasneem Essop. We have to Use the ‘R’ Word
23. Judy Dlamini. A Passion to Help
24. Bessie Head. Fighting Demons and Winning
25. Pretty Yende. Finding Her Voice
26. Kass Naidoo. Dreaming out Loud
27. Miriam Makeba. Songstress of the Revolution
28. FEDSAW. Wathint’ Abafazi
29. Gcina Mhlophe. African Storyteller
30. Albertina Sisulu. Freedom’s Rose

About the Authors

Natasha Allie is the Projects Manager for the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation. The projects on which she works centre around the advancement of women and youth – two aspects of society about which she is very passionate. Before the Foundation, Natasha worked on a rhino conservation project, as well as for the Gender Research Alliance. She studied marketing and management at the University of the Witwatersrand, and is a trained LifeLine counsellor. Natasha is a proud born-and-bred Joburg girl.

Baba-Tamana Gqubule is an Economist at TIPS (Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies), a non-profit economic research institution that aims to provide economic policy research in response to public policy needs. She has a Masters in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and a Bachelor of Economics Honours degree from Rhodes University. She is interested in contributing towards the development of policy interventions targeted towards dismantling processes that yield to structural inequality in South Africa. She is also the founder of a group informally known as “Rhodents with purpose”, a network of Rhodes Alumni that aim to provide financial and peer-group support to disadvantaged students at Rhodes University.

Thandiwe Matthews is an attorney who believes that everyone has the right to be treated fairly and with dignity. She is a Senior Researcher: Civil and Political Rights at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), where she was also a Senior Legal Officer, focusing on the advancement of human rights by both State and non-State actors. Before joining the SAHRC, Thandiwe worked as an attorney in the corporate and NGO sector. In 2015, she was selected as a 2015-2016 Fulbright/ Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow by the US State Department, based at the University of Minnesota Law School (United States).

About Khaloza Books:

Khaloza Books is a South African publishing company established in April 2017. We are
a Pan-African publishing house for books, fiction and non-fiction, about Africa for children
and young adults. Our aim is to encourage the continent to Read.Write.African

Categories Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Amadodakazi endlovukazi uModjadji Baba-Tamana Gqubule Childrens books Daughters of Modjadji Her Story Khaloza Books Natasha Allie New books New releases Thandiwe Matthews Umlando Wakhe