Twenty-one-year-old Muano Witness Munyai is set to send positive messages of hope out into the world through her poetry.
Witness was born in Masisi, but during the first five years of her primary studies, she was raised in Pretoria by her auntie, Ms Blondy Munzhelele. After that, she moved to Tshandama village. Her writing talent took root at the St Augustine Residential School, where she matriculated in 2018, under the mentorship of Ms Mini Anish, but her greatest source of motivation and encouragement has always come from her loving and caring mother.
Her first collection of poems, titled Untamed Thoughts, has just been released, and by sharing her observations on life thus far, she hopes to inspire others. Her poems, aimed at all age groups, focus on issues such as love and dating, as well as societal matters that create a disturbance around us, such as crime, violence, anxiety, and depression.
"Being an author has always been one of my many dreams," she said. "I am thankful that NetBing Publishers made that dream possible."
Poetry, she says, is not about throwing a bunch of bombastic words around or bragging about how many words you know. "True poetry aims at provoking thoughts and voicing unspoken words. In this book, poetry is made simple and serves as a medium of communication where thoughts are laid out without being diluted."
Witness regards her faith, family, and friends as the most important facets of her life and, next to her passion for writing, she also enjoys good food and cooking. She hopes to one day really make a difference by saving lives, and not only through her writing. She is currently pursuing her degree in medicine at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.
Muano Witness Munyai is available on Facebook and can be reached on Tel 071 638 0390.