Clementine Tjameya - Bachelor of English and Linguistics Honours

Brief: A graduate of the Bachelor’s of English and Linguistics Honours

Share your achievement/success story in detail. I have always had a passion for writing. I wanted to have my work out there. It has always been my dream. After trying hard to get my work published with no success, I decided to enter for writing contests. The first one I entered for was, a poem contest at UNAM. Two of my three submitted poems won and were published in UNAM Press's poetry anthology (My Heart In Your Hands). This was a dream come true as the poems were reviewed and critiqued internationally. I was humbled to find out that they conform to universal poetry standards. Simultaneously, I got an internship at Windhoek Observer newspaper as a journalistic writer. This improved my writing skills majorly. By mid-last year, I managed to get a short story published again through another writing contest.

Tell us more about your journey leading up to this moment. Initially, writing was just a hobby for me. However, in tenth grade I wrote something that my parents thought was worth sharing, and just like that my writing career was born. Since then I have worked a lot to perfect my and have read more books than I can count. This helped me learn from other writers. I work tirelessly and I am always open to growth in my writing career.

What does this achievement mean to you and how will you use it to motivate others? It means a lot to me as a writer. It tells me every dream is valid, because not a few years ago, getting my work published was nothing more than just a dream. I intend to inspire others through this by being me and doing what I'm good at, I advise everyone to do the same and follow their desires.

what are your plans for the future? As a student of English, I noted that most of the literature books used in my course are foreign. I would like to have my recently published short story used by literature students at NUST and other universities. My long term plan is to create a platform to inspire young aspiring writers to keep at what they are doing, and together we can put Namibian literature on the world map.

The success quote you live by is ... "Talent fused with passion is unstoppable!"-Clementine Tjameya