Being an expatriate is in itself a daring leap, pursuing the very essence of your expatriation is even more painstaking and then putting yourself under a rigorous discipline of achieving anything as complex as authoring any piece of work calls for a celebration of courage.
The Elevare Authors’ Award is that platform that brings together and celebrates accomplished authors in China, most of whom are primarily students in different universities. This initiative, in its second year, is the brainchild of China based Tanzanian, Shubila Ruth Kikoko, who has a strong passion for the art of telling a story through writing.
This year’s event happened December 14th, in the city of Wuhan, PRC, with main focus: Celebrating Courage. It was all about recognizing the work of prolific writers, with different award categories.
Celebrating Courage
Speaking about the essence of courage to author any piece of work, Keturah Kendrick, author of the book “No Thanks” thinks it takes courage to be black, free and living in a martyr free zone. In her own words, “It takes courage to write for the same reason it takes courage to live. It requires honesty and vulnerability, fortitude and a willingness to fail miserably.”
Keturah Kendrick
Clinton Kadochi is a young Zambian, author of the book “The Concept of a Knowledge Bank.” According to Clinton, writing a book is courage backed up by the desire for reaching out to help an audience live on informed decisions. “We write because we want to share our view of the matter, not because we know it all.”
In like manner, award winning author and medial student, Abel Hara, clearly articulates that it takes courage to be vulnerable enough to share your knowledge by writing a book. To him, it is like growing up in public.
Abel Hara
Similarly, serial writer, award winning author and medical student, Stanley Asasu is assertive about how much courage he uses, to author every piece. The courage to be vulnerable and put his thoughts out there for the rest of the world to ascertain.
Stanley Asasu
Last but not the least, awarded was Ahmed Bemba, an established author based in the city of Wuhan. Ahmed remarks that it is important for every author to write with a broad reading audience in mind, not limited to one’s country. Now, this is the courage that it takes to be an author. At this point, it is safe to say that VULNERABILITY is COURAGE.
Ahmed Bemba’s
The future of ELEVARE promises to be more encompassing, giving a voice to many more authors. As anticipated by Mrs. Shubila, this platform will set the stage for many upcoming writers, who have held on too long to their unrealized dreams of authoring or whose manuscripts have stayed with them too long, unpublished.
See you next year at Elevare 2020!
INSIDE OUT 