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20 February 2023 | Story Gerda-Marié van Rooyen | Photo Supplied
Nthabiseng (JahRose) Jafta, a Publishing Coordinator at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently received the Silver Medal Award and other accolades at the Eurasian Literary Festival held in Egypt. She says writing is a way of life for her and she writes anywhere and anytime.

Nthabiseng (JahRose) Jafta, a Publishing Coordinator at African Languages Press in the Library and Information Services at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently received the Silver Medal Award and other accolades at the Eurasian Literary Festival held in Egypt. Jafta, an MA scholar (Creative Writing) at Rhodes University, describes herself as an international performing poet, artpreneur, teacher, festival curator, content developer, and creative strategist born in the Free State.

Being an introvert, she says her love for writing gives her a voice. “I can echo my thoughts and colour my grey sky,” she explains poetically. She feels writing is as natural to her as breathing. She is comfortable writing anywhere and anytime. “There’s no physical area needed. We type on WhatsApp in the taxi. We catch brainwaves whenever they appear.” Jafta's creative juices seem to be overflowing, as she confessed to even getting an idea while contemplating her love for writing. “Life throws you prompts from all spheres, but you have to be present to recognise its call. And sometimes the piece decides if it wants to be happy, erotic, or sad.”
 
Her literacy cap serves Jafta's career as a publisher and her creative writing when time allows. “I read and write. Publish what I read or write. I also happen to recite, read, and sing what I write. It’s all in alignment.” This Deputy President of the National Writers Association of South Africa and founder of the Poetic Blues Virtual Festival writes in her mother tongue, Sesotho, and English. She also has additional experience in the poetry industry, as she was previously the Curator of the Macufe Poetry Festival. She also attended the International Writing Centre at Beijing Normal University part time. Her poems have also been translated into Mandarin and published in Chinese literary magazines.

Jafta says besides the growing catalogue of more than 40 publications, she also has an upcoming multilingual poetry compilation featuring Spanish, Danish, Mandarin, Arabic, KiSwahili, IsiZulu, and Sesotho translations from English. This poet believes poetry is a gift that feeds lyrics to melodies. “And that song carries us to humanity's highs and lows. Prose is how we navigate that gift daily. They are rainbows on melting clouds, events plants rejoice on their rhythmic drops.”

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Spotlight on Excellence in Teaching and Learning
2012-10-30

30 October 2012

The Centre for Teaching and Learning is hosting the first Excellence in Teaching and Learning Week from 29 October to 1 November 2012 in the Centenary Complex. Some of the top academics at the university will exhibit and present their scholarly contributions in the form of presentations, short videos and electronic posters. These will form part of the academics’ entries for the Innovation awards.

Lunch-hour presentations will be held daily and speakers include Dr Liezel Nel, 2011 winner of the Vice Chancellor Teaching and Learning award, Prof. Driekie Hay, Vice Rector: Academics, Dr Francois Strydom and the UFS101 team. 

On Thursday 1 November 2012, five academics will present their Scholarship of Teaching and Learning approach along with their teaching philosophies. This is done in the quest for the Vice Chancellor's Teaching and Learning award.

Personnel are encouraged to visit the Centenary complex to view the quality work of their colleagues. They can also vote for the best video or electronic poster by visiting the CTL portal at https://intranet.ufs.ac.za/sites/ctl

See programme for more details about the presentations throughout the week.

 

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