Published poet

Kelly Lin is a Grade 12 learner at Reddam House Durbanville in Cape Town.

Congratulations for self-publishing 'The Becoming', your first anthology of poetry, prose and short stories! In the 120 page paperback, she discusses love in different forms, growth, persevering, perspective, mental health, jealousy and art.

Photo credit: Courtesy of ‘Tygerburger – Parow Edition‘ (Wednesday, 24th July 2019) newspaper p. 3/20.

Front cover of 'The Becoming' credit: Courtesy of 'GoodReads.com".

“In a world where people are feeling more and more misunderstood and alone, story-telling is essential in remedying that. Words of comfort, to know that someone else has gone before you in a trial of life and has lit the way forward for you to follow, is vital for our society today.”

"Forced" to write a poem in English class four years ago, the Parow resident started writing poetry.

"After that, poetry and I have had a longstanding love affair that I hope is everlasting.Poetry is something short and sweet that provides a similar sense of fulfilment and satisfaction, and you are still telling a story, just in a different way."

Encouraged by a friend to print and sell her work at markets, the 18-year-old was holding her first book in her hands within weeks of deciding to self-publish by finding a printing company to suit her needs and budget.

"I decided to self-publish because I wanted to be a pioneer for young people, to show young women especially that you do not have to wait for some big publishing company to take the initiative to get your work, your word and your story out there."

"The feeling of putting my book on my shelf alongside authors I've loved and idolised... brought me to tears, and is my greatest achievement. It was an insane experience that I will never forget."

She has been exploring studying creative writing next year.

Good luck for your matric exams and plans for a second poetry book!

Article credit: Courtesy of the ‘Tygerburger – Parow Edition‘ (Wednesday, 24th July 2019) newspaper p. 3/20. Read the full online article here.

2018 AVBOB Poetry Project Competition

Well done to Kelly Lin for having two of her inspirational poems successfully accepted by the annual online AVBOB Poetry Project Competition for publication on their website. Just under 30,000 entries in all 11 official languages used to generate words of comfort were submitted.

"Two of my poems were successful and therefore accepted into the competition, therefore gaining me a cash prize, however I was not the top winner."

To read these two poems, click here for "Ghost of you" (Love) and here for "Promise" (Death).

Article credit: Courtesy of 'Cape Argus' (Thursday, 18th July 2019) newspaper.

Encouraging international affairs awareness

Well done to Kelly Lin for representing the Western Cape at the SA Institute Of International Affairs (SAIIA) Young Researchers Symposium in December 2018. Her team looked at Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security. She is now a SAIIA Youth Policy Committee member, aimed at advancing a well governed, peaceful, economically sustainable and globally engaged Africa.

Source credit: Courtesy of 'SAIIA'.

How to support Kelly Lin

Please support the budding author by joining her nearly 1,000 Instagram followers and follow her photography and writing account. Message her directly to order your copy of 'My Becoming'.