TEARS ON MY MOTHER’S SHOES
Ms Lame Pusetso is a writer, poet, master of ceremony, spoken word artist, motivational speaker, poetry adjudicator and owner of a publishing company. Quite the jack of all traits we might say. She is the author of the two works of art, Tears On My Mother’s Shoes, & Oceans Of Untold Goodbyes. Ms Pusetso takes us through her journey as an author in Botswana, and how she managed to get where she is now, but, first and foremost, who is she?
Lame is a young lady born and raised in Hukuntsi to a passionate, not well known, guitarist father and a devoted mother. She is the last born of a family of seven girls, thus she has ridiculed the stereotype of ‘a lazy last born’, as she has managed to make the most of her abilities.
She got her passion from her father, who has relentlessly instilled his passion for the arts by playing his guitar while writing sweet numbers to her mother as a declaration of his undying love. She tells us that her father also used to read her the famous book, How to kill a mocking bird.
Despite coming from humble beginnings, Pusetso managed to build a great career and brand. Her passion and talent helped her achieve great milestones. She tells us that growing up, at times she would want to write and scribble down her poems, but there was no electricity and no paraffin for the lamp or candle. “My parents would then suggest that we can go to the fireplace, then they made a big fire for me to be able to write my poetry.” Lame says.
She also goes to recognise the support from her senior school teacher of English, who would go the extra lengths of reading and analysing her work thus accelerating her improvement. “The drive I had pushed me to go knocking on every door, non stop, until I got help,“ she says.
At this point in time she has two books, the first, Oceans Of Untold Goodbyes, which has won the African Authors Awards 2020, and the second book, Tears On My Mother’s Shoes, which was nominated for a French award and African authors awards 2021. Currently she is working on two more books that we can look forward to mid 2021.
Lame says social media has really helped her progress in writing. “When I first posted my book on Facebook, I got a lot of feedback, people were touched by what I wrote“, Lame explains. She goes on to say that if you really want to change a person’s life it’s through your writing, “What you write can either make or break a person.” On the other hand she tells us that social media has brought about a lot of piracy as most artists do not copyright their work. She encourages young aspiring writers out there to knock on every door and make their dream a reality.
As for the government, she claims their efforts to support artists in their industry is recognized but it’s more about finding a market and helping the artists publish quality material than cash handouts. She usually ‘work’ only becomes successful after the authors have passed on, but this should not be the case.
In the nearby future, Pusetso aspires to own a book store whereby local authors will be able to sell their books therefore expanding their market.
From the nurturing hands of humble beginnings in an average Tswana village with only the support of family and limited financial resources. She could only hold onto her passion as a writer, the one that drove her to school and ultimately a published author and owner of a publishing company. She closes, “Never give up on your dreams.”
