Storytelling is one of the most prominent attributes of who we are especially as Africans. From our grandparents telling us stories around the fire to television soapies that have us glued on to the screen and planted onto our couches. Everyone has a story to tell.
Kamogelo Masoga is a 23 year old passionate storyteller from Mmotwaneng ga Rakgwadi Village in Limpopo.
“Storytelling is very important for me because I get to be the voice for other people and tell their stories, I get to touch and reach people with my stories, a lot of people want to tell their stories but they are scared, but once they read my story and relate to it, they find comfort to whatever situation they maybe faced with.”
Social Media is full of storytellers, and content creators. However most content creators still us the traditional way of storytelling which is through book publishing. Kamogelo is also using this way “Well ‘Chasing The Dream’ is my first published book, it is a collection of 10 short stories, that talks about the challenges that we experience in our everyday lives, this book is for everyone who needs a bit of uplifting in these sad times.”
Unlike entrepreneurship, being an Author may not yield much financial success, yet many young people still go through the trouble of writing and publishing a book, “we want to motivate, inspire, teach and entertain people with our writings. Nowadays people no longer buy books or read much, so you could struggle to even sell 50 copies per yer, that’s why its wise to always have a career outside just being an author, incase things don’t go as you have planned” says Kamogelo.
“I believe that in order for me to sell more copies I have to have a marketing strategy in order to showcase my work to customers, so selling on the streets is also part of my strategy, people get to see my work and also engage with me.”
Every Author has that one book that they believe to be their best work yet “My favourite story in my book is Chasing the Dream, I love it because it defines the journey of someone who hustle and succeed.”
Kamogelo would love to work for one of the production houses in South Africa “I would love to work with the Ferguson’s because I have been watching their stories and I can see that most of my storylines do relate to their stories as well.” Concludes Kamo.
It is clear that storytelling is central to the progress of any society. Kamogelo’s story represents the entire village of Mmotwaneng ga Rakgwadi. Just like the story of Trevor Noah, Nomzamo Mbatha and now the Railway Underground super star Thuso Mbedu their stories is our story, and they represent communities in which they come from.
People who want a copy of my book can contact me on 0798506021 or on my social media handles @kamo the author on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram