A poet from Elsies River has released her debut collection called ‘A Color Rose’ which she has dedicated to all Coloured women.
Cheronne Roberts, 37, is a songwriter and her poems featured in three anthologies by the Poetry Institute of Africa. After publication, the three anthologies were inducted into the National Library of South Africa, including Cape Town, where the poet resides.
“A Color Rose” is her debut individual poetry collection and is published in collaboration with Wipf and Stock Publishers USA.
“I have been writing poetry since a young age but I was first a published author at the age of 15 years old. Poetry is my way of communication and how I express myself through writing because I am not a big talker and it evolved into poetry and songwriting,” says Cheronne.
She says the book is dedicated to coloured women finally “arriving” after they’ve always found themselves in dire circumstances, “whether it be racial laws, environmental factors, socio-economic factors or just life.”
“This book is for another Coloured girl to know she can also rise and be published overseas even if she has no support, but there is a market.”
She says that the spelling of the word ‘Color’ in the title is according to the American lingo, because the book was published in the USA, as local publishing houses did not want to accept it.
The book consist of 80 pages and is available in Europe and the United States of America where it is stocked by some of the largest bookstores in the world.
The book is also available on Takealot and Amazon, costing from R200 depending on the retailer.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za