KARIEGA minister in training, Anthony Mostert (22) has released an Afrikaans Poetry Anthology, Gekraakte Jeug, in hopes of being an inspiration to the youth in his community.
“Through this book, I’m hoping to inspire the youth. I want to plant the thought in their mind that if I could do it, so can they,” he says.
One of the poems in the book speaks on Identity and Mostert explains that it refers to the fact that young people like himself often settle for labels they are given instead of figuring out who they are themselves.
“With this book, I want the youth to know that even if they see themselves as ‘the worst person’, there’s still hope for them. We tend to look down on ourselves and we need to hear that you still matter, even if you yourself don’t believe that you do,” he said
Mostert says that his passion for writing started in High School.
“When I was in grade nine one of my teachers read a work of fiction in class. She read it in a way that one could say the characters in the story came alive. And I thought to myself, that if I wrote a book one day, I’d want my characters to come alive in the same way.
“I did write a book, but I could never publish it. Due to my struggles with publishing, I didn’t care about writing anymore for about a year or two. Last year after attending a poetry workshop, I began to feel the love I have for writing again and I decided to give it another go. And this is how this book came about,” he said.
“There are some poems about the challenges that we as young people face and I try to give a solution at the end of each poem, a solution that helped me personally. Some poems are about the things that I went through and the others are the stories and struggles of others,” said Mostert adding that due to the issues he had with the first book he wrote he often found himself lacking motivation.
“… because I knew that the book I wrote a few years ago, did not succeed, I was sceptical about this book, but I had to challenge myself and convince myself that I can do it if I really want to do it. And after being in the presence of other young people who have published their books, it gave me that extra drive and belief to do the same,” he said.
Mosert who is the youngest deacon at his church, Roselane Congregational, is currently studying to become a minister and visits schools as a motivational speaker.
He says he hopes that Gekraakte Jeug is the first of many books and has his eye on literary awards such as the Booker Prize.
“ I also want to be able to assist other upcoming authors in publishing their work, because I know firsthand the difficulties that come with publishing a book,” he said.
Mostert will be launching Gekraakte Jeug on July 22 at Agape Coffee Shop in Kariega.
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