Writing is a unique art. The number of ways to be a writer is only limited by the number of writers. In this vein, I think it’s time we hear less of my way and more of some other writers’ ways. Welcome to the Writers’ Room!

I’ve invited a collection of my writing friends to the Writers’ Room to discuss various aspects of the craft and the business. In the coming weeks, they will be answering questions and you will see quite clearly from their answers how different writers really are.  My group of writers come from various parts of the world and are in different stages of their careers; some with many books published and some just starting out. This week we meet them.

Beatrice Lamwaka

Beatrice Lamwaka was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2011 and was a finalist for the South African PEN/Studzinski Literary Award in 2009. She is freelance journalist and is currently studying MA Human Rights in Makerere University. Her short stories have been published in various anthologies and journals. She lives in Uganda.

Fiona Snyckers is the author of Trinity Rising and Trinity On Air, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers, and of the Sisterz series of mobile novels published by Yoza Mobi.  She lives in Johannesburg.

Cheryl Ntumy

Cheryl Ntumy is originally from Ghana but grew up in Botswana. She studied Textile Design and Media Studies and briefly considered working as a journalist before becoming a writer. Her first novel, Crossing, was published in 2010.

Jenny Robson writes youth novels from the bottom of her heart – and short stories for woman’s magazines for fun. She has won several awards, the most highly-valued (according to her) being the UNESCO Prize for Youth Literature in the Service of Tolerance. “I am an African and my writing has and always will be, firmly set right here.” She lives in Maun.

Sue Guiney

Though born and raised in New York, Sue Guiney has lived in London for twenty years where she writes and teaches fiction, poetry and plays.  Her work has appeared in important literary journals on both sides of the Atlantic, and her most recent novel, A Clash of Innocents, was chosen to be the first publication of the new imprint Ward Wood Publishing and was published in September, 2010.  Her first novel, Tangled Roots, was published by Bluechrome Publishing in 2006.

Wame Molefhe is a full-time writer living in Gaborone.  Her stories appear in a number of publications. Go Tell the Sun  (Modjaji Books) is her short story collection published in 2011.

Tania Hershman’s first collection, The White Road and Other Stories, was commended, 2009 Orange Award for New Writers. She is currently writer-in-residence in the Science Faculty at Bristol University, UK, working on more science-inspired fiction.  HYPERLINK “http://Www.taniahershman.com/”www.taniahershman.com

Gothataone Moeng is a writer and journalist based in Gaborone.  She has stories published in literary magazines (online and print), as well as short story anthologies in the UK, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. She is working on a short story collection.