There’s a lot going on in BW! Scroll down to learn about the creative projects Botswana writers and artists have embarked on. If you are in the Botswana creative sector and would like us to shed light on your work, please send us the details! Email petloliteraryarts@gmail.com with details of your work and some photos.
Little Ngwana Stories inspires young readers
Dr Lesedi Gaeemelwe is a multi award winning children’s author, teacher and arts enthusiast. Her debut children’s book Little Ngwana Stories, launched in November 2020, has attracted accolades and opportunities to serve children locally and internationally through regular reading sessions, including weekly reading adventures at the Gaborone Children’s Library through Botswana National Library Services. She also holds quarterly reading sessions with children at Ramacity, Gauteng, RSA.
The book was approved by the Gauteng Education Department as reading material for school libraries in the academic year 2024/2025, for both English and Setswana . Little Ngwana Stories has been translated into Braille by the Mochudi Resource Centre for the Blind and Hindi by Bible Society of India.
Her other children’s stories appear in various anthologies including The Peculiar Tree by Gaborone Book Festival featuring her story titled ‘Stars Draw Near’, which was read at the International Gaborone Book Festival 2022 and features in the Botswana National Online Children’s Literary Project by the Mastercard Foundation.
As a passionate activist of child safety Dr. Gaeemelwe serves as Secretary of the Ban Pitbulls in Botswana Campaign. She is the Botswana coordinator for Writers Capital Foundation. Her storytelling journey continues to be a dream come true as this year she shared a stage with Gcina Mhlophe at the Johannesburg Festival of Women Writers in commemoration of Women’s Day 2025, reading one of her stories.
Learn more by following the links below!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1ZGSUCYJVN/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holy_mrapper?igsh=MWhid2l6MzRhMXpwYg==
TikTok: @lesediholymrapper
Email: gaeemelwelesedi@yahoo.com
Marriage in Botswana by K.T. Montshiwa
K.T. Montshiwa launched her book Marriage in Botswana in 2025 at an event held at the AgaMotse Center in Gaborone.
Patlo and bogadi are essential elements in traditional marriages in Botswana. Through interviews, research and personal anecdotes, this book aims to demystify the processes, outlining the different roles and intricacies involved and how the traditional practices have been adapted in modern times.
7 Books by Dr. Teedzani Thapelo
Calling lovers of current affairs!
Dr. Teedzani Thapelo has published seven books on the most current and contentious, even controversial issues in Botswana government and society, including a biography of Dr Kenneth Koma (379 pages).
WhatsApp 72217641 to get a copy.
1. Duma Boko Government and Policy Reform in Post-BDP New Botswana; 256 Pages…..Price; P360
2. Rise and Fall of BDP, 331 Pages…P480
3. Combating GBV in Botswana; 314 Pages…P480
4. Kenneth Koma and the Revolutionary Spirit in Botswana Political Culture; 379 Pages…P480
5. Botswana Diamonds Story; 323 Pages…P480
6. UDC: Road to New Botswana; 362 Pages…P480
7. New Perspectives on GBV in Botswana; 272 Pages…P360.
The Delta Roamers Board Game
The Delta Roamers is a local board game which highlights Botswana’s natural wonders. The tokens used to play the game are the animals from the big five family. They are molded on one side of the coin with their names in both English and Setswana on the other side of the coin.
The board game was released in March 2024 and it is available for purchase at P200.
Forgive God by Lebogang Kendy Mozela
To 19 year old Zena life revolved around her parents, so when her dad left for Botswana that one fateful day, Zena waited in blissful hope for the day that he would return with the greener pastures that he went in search of. The years went by and even her childish love for her father could no longer turn a blind eye to the realities before her. She is catapulted into a world of betrayal from family as well as the one who holds her heart. Zena must now learn what it means to breathe above the water, to survive, to forgive or rather to point less fingers at God for life’s miseries. What began as a compulsion now becomes an urgent need for her aching heart.
Call/WhatsApp +267 74273988 to get a signed copy at just P200.
Lebogang Kendy Mozela is a 23 year old vibrant pen warrior from Ditladi Village. Her writing journey began when she was 13 years old. She is passionate about both reading and writing. Although her writing started at a very young age, Forgive God is her first published work. This book was published by Poeticblood Publishers in September 2023.
Forgive God is a work of fiction that explores the unsettling environment created by absentee fathers, the indoctrination of women from childhood, rape and the hush culture surrounding rape related pregnancies, the stance of the church on purity culture, love and what it means to actually Forgive God when you have been raised in an environment that polices your feelings. What do you do when you are not allowed to be angry at God?
Nitty Gritty: The Book of Meanings by Barolong Seboni
This witty compilation by renowened poet and author Barolong Seboni, published in April 2024, brings the colourful characters of Seboni’s Nitty Gritty articles back to life. The Nitty Gritty column ran in local newspaper Mmegi for many years, chronicling everyday life in Botswana through the eyes of the patrons of the Nitty Gritty shebeen. The articles are dedicated to the grandmasters of satire: Rampholo Molefhe, Paul Rantao, Kgosinkwe Moesi, Billy Chiepe and Douglas Tsiako.
Petlwana Journal of Creative Literature and the Arts 