I am Melody Ngomane, born and bred in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. My first contact with Nal’ibali was in 2019 when I submitted stories for their radio stories season 5 submission. I have since submitted 21 stories for both Seasons 5 and 6. Some of those, namely The old woman and the bee, The mirror in the jungle, The kind man, Daisy’s little voice and Lazy Lollie were successfully published by Nal’ibali and SABC Education.

That I have the ability to create a world that once only existed in my head, and later to see an audience react and sometimes relate to that world, fascinated me. It kept me going. My inspiration for writing children’s stories comes from the love I have for children, and through reading short stories. I love the flexibility that children’s story writers have in terms of creativity, imagination and style. I love their simplicity and that I can tap into child mode for a moment. 

Nal’ibali is a huge platform that reaches thousands of South African households. I used to listen to their stories and I knew working with them would kickstart my career as an author. Since I’ve started working with them, I have found my voice as a storyteller, and writing children’s stories has become second nature to me. Through their guidance, I went from writing one short story in a couple of days to writing one in just a day (of course, the editing and proofreading follows).

My word of encouragement to all aspiring authors is to trust and believe in yourself and your ideas. Read as many children’s stories as you possibly can, because that will help you learn the different writing techniques and to discover your own voice. Be original and have fun! 

Nali’bali is an amazing platform to grow and discover yourself as a writer, so reach out and be heard!