Q&A with Mosa Mkhize

The owner and founder of Origins Publishers speaks about her passion for authentic, multilingual children’s literature, and how she had to create the products she craved.

- MARGOT BERTELSMANN

WHO IS MOSA MKHIZE?

I am a 33-year-old public policy advisor, married to Mzwandile, with two children, Nizenande and Alakhe, who are four and two, respectively.

ORIGINS PUBLISHERS (ORIGINSPUBLISHERS.CO.ZA) IS THE COMPANY YOU FOUNDED TO SELL YOUR BILINGUAL BOOK SERIES, FARM ANIMALS. HAVE YOU ALWAYS HAD A PASSION FOR BOOKS AND READING?

Yes, I grew up in a home that was filled with books. My parents would tell my two sisters, my brother, and me, ”We brought you a surprise!“ and it would be a book, not a toy or a sweet. My parents had a passion for reading and made a concerted effort to instill a love for reading and storytelling in us. Those books were often written in English. I would cop to that fact when they would read me a story, translating it as they went, and I’d think: ”That’s not the same story as the book told yesterday!“ My parents would use the beautiful illustrations as a guide and makeup tales to match the pictures.

YOUR BOOK FARM ANIMALS IS BILINGUAL AND AVAILABLE IN 10 DIFFERENT LANGUAGE PAIRS, ENGLISH AND EACH OFFICIAL SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGE, AS WELL AS SWAHILI AND FRENCH. WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT MULTILINGUALISM?