We love our FunDza Fanz writers. To celebrate them we’re running our #WriterWednesday social media campaign that showcases every Wednesday one of our young and inspiring writers. We take their lovely photo, together with a short blurb on why they love to write and link it either to their author page (if they have a lot of published work) or something they’ve had published on FunDza. It’s a great way for our readers and writers to see what everyone is up to, and share their efforts as aspiring writers.

Recently, I experienced a ‘drought’ – usually I get asked if a writer could be featured and I don’t lack for participants to be be splashed all over our social media feeds, but suddenly (school holidays, perhaps?) I found myself with an empty pool! So I reached out, and sent about 60 emails to the latest and more popular writers that hadn’t yet been featured, asking if they’d like to take part in the #WriterWednesday campaign and highlight their work…

Well, well, well! WHAT a RESPONSE! Such was the reaction, it warranted a blog – so here it is. I was blown away by the passion, enthusiasm, dedication and eagerness to be involved. Some even followed up a mere two hours later, if I hadn’t yet responded to their mail, or even called the office to speak to “Miss Shelley”! It warmed my heart to see these keen writers – no matter how young and old, and regardless of creed, religion or race – are passionate about putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys). They write from their hearts about what writing means to them. Some see it as an escape, others as as a means to express themselves. As the photos came flooding in, I saw smiling faces and youthful enterprise and felt utterly heartened for FunDza’s future, and for South Africa’s future too. If only we could all be this ardent and driven.

We share four of the #WriterWednesday posts below but do keep a look out (especially on Wednesdays!) on our Twitter and Facebook feeds to see for yourself.