About this item
A creative writing group unites and inspires girls of the first South African generation "born free."Born into post-apartheid South Africa, the young women of the townships around Cape Town still face daunting challenges. Their families and communities have been ravaged by poverty, violence, sexual abuse, and AIDS. Yet, as Kimberly Burge discovered when she set up a writing group in the township of Gugulethu, the spirit of these girls outshines their circumstances.Girls such as irrepressible Annasuena, whose late mother was one of South Africa's most celebrated singers; bubbly Sharon, already career-bound; and shy Ntombi, determined to finish high school and pursue further studies, find reassurance and courage in writing. Together they also find temporary escape from the travails of their lives, anxieties beyond boyfriends and futures: for some of them, worries that include HIV medication regimens, conflicts with indifferent guardians, struggles with depression.
About the Author
Kimberly Burge is a narrative journalist, a longtime activist, and a Fulbright Scholar to South Africa. She earned a bachelor of science in journalism at Bowling Green State University, a master of fine arts in nonfiction writing from George Mason University, and was a fellow in global religion reporting for the International Reporting Project at Johns Hopkins University. Kimberly has published feature stories, editorials, and reviews on issues of culture, politics, global poverty and development, faith and public policy in places such as The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, and Salon. A contributing writer for Sojourners magazine, she previously worked for twelve years at Bread for the World, a Washington-based advocacy organization combatting© hunger and poverty in the United States and worldwide. In 2005, she accompanied 150 grassroots activists to the G-8 activities in Scotland, where an international mobilization organized by grassroots leaders, along with Bob Geldof and Bono, called on world leaders to increase efforts to fight poverty in Africa. Her articles include '5 Lessons I Learned about Writing from the Girls of Gugulethu? (The Huffington Post, 7/29/15) and 'How Men in South Africa Are Trying to Stop Violence Against Women? (The Atlantic, Dec. 28, 2012) as well as an account of Johnny Cash's last public performance ('Johnny Cash Goes Home,? Sojourners, January 2004) and an award-winning profile of writer Anne Lamott ('Crooked Little Faith,? Sojourners, May-June 1999) .She has spoken about the Born Frees at 'After Girl Power: What's Next?? an international girls' studies conference hosted by the Centre for Women's Studies at the University of York, U.K, and at 'Culture, Creative Transformation, and Adversity,? a faculty seminar at Waterford Institute of Technology in Waterford, Ireland. In 2012, as Visiting Humanities Scholar, she led a creative writing workshop for 25 inmates at Cumberland Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. She was born in San Antonio, Texas; grew up in Blytheville, Arkansas, and Cincinnati; currently lives in Washington, DC; and returns to Cape Town© every chance she gets.
