Beyond Books Organisation was founded in September 2023 with the mandate of cultivating the culture of writing and reading in Botswana and Africa at large. In an interview with Arts&Culture, the founder of the organisation, Gaolatlhe Srinath, said through the group, they have a creative writing, mentorship programme that seeks to identify upcoming writers or aspiring writers, unearth their talent and nurture them into authors. “Our services include writing mentorship, book publishing, editing and proofreading, creative writing classes, book club reading sessions and profiling authors,” she added.
Srinath said their initiatives are also an attempt to help aspiring writers network and create a community of readers for benchmarking purposes. Additionally, they also hope to promote up-and-coming writers to help them sell their work. She mentioned that they currently provide free book reviews on social media to promote authors throughout Africa. She emphasised that one of the challenges they are facing is finding fresh creative talent because more exposure and support are needed for more people to become aware of their services and use them. One of the issues Srinath also highlighted was lack of funding, which makes it difficult for young people who want to become writers to realise their goals. “They are not financially able to sponsor themselves, so mostly we volunteer to mentor them and use our own funds to avail our services to them. We therefore extend our request to sponsors out there to assist in collaborating and awakening literature enthusiasm in the youth,” she added.
Srinath advised aspiring writers against procrastination, which she labelled as their worst enemy in their progression. Making writing a habit is the best course of action because there will never be enough or the proper amount of time to write, she continued. “Don't fear what people might say about your writing, write that which you enjoy and people will enjoy it along with you. Challenges will always come but what drives you is much bigger,” she concluded. To fulfil the organisation's mission, Srinath has collaborated with a committed group of female social workers. The dedicated team includes Kutlwano Nonofo Molome, Gothata Courtney Gopolang and Motshidisi Ramhitshana.
