Among Bloemfontein’s best and brightest, Didi [now only 17], has already published her first two novels, the first of which she’d begun writing on her tenth birthday! She sure to rise to the heights of the media industry very soon, and My City has had the profound privilege of interviewing her.
Though she was very young when she first decided to tell the story “Adventures in the Magical Forest”, and its sequel, “Adventures in the Magical Forest”, the profound parallels the books draw between the imagination of young children – at any point during the course of their lives – are sure to inspire any young reader to take pen to paper.
“Just write and see where it goes”, Didi says to all the young writers out there, “always start by doing it for the fun first, then the rest of the process will gradually become more enjoyable”.
Didi has always been passionate about drawing, and had submitted her doodles and ideas for reference in creating the illustrations for her novels, saying that “as a young child, I was determined for the story to represent people of my own skin colour, and so, when the art for the books was being made, I’d insisted on making the main character African.” She also recommends creating moodboards for each of the characters, and though she didn’t produce the illustrations for these books herself, she’s said that she certainly would like to do so for future publications.
Her hobbies include creating video edits, programming, music production, game- and graphic design and she hopes someday to be in any field that involves the creative processes of entertainment and media – and My City is confident that she soon will be!
Good luck Didi, we’re rooting for you!
