Tlalane Manciya – A Catholic of Letters

by Daluxolo Moloantoa · Published August 11, 2022 · Updated August 10, 2022

Poet and writer Tlalane Manciya with one of the several anthologies which feature her poetry. Tlalane Manciya with her mentor Fr Ralph de Hahn (right) and Fr Charles Prince, her parish priest at St Anthony’s church in Langa.

For poet and writer Tlalane Manciya, the faith is at the centre of everything, as she told Daluxolo Moloantoa.

At the age of 14, Tlalane Manciya read the diaries of Anne Frank, another teenager. This kicked off her passion for the written word. “When I first read the story of Anne Frank, I was so impressed and attracted by her story that, like her, I started journalling about my life too. Over time, my writing expanded to include more areas of literature,” the Capetonian poet and author told The Southern Cross.

The Diary of Anne Frank is the journal of a girl hiding from the Nazis in occupied Amsterdam during the Second World War; it was published posthumously by her father, the only member of her family to survive the concentration camps.

A journal is personal and rarely shared with others, Manciya noted, but she developed a desire to share her writing with others. “My love for writing romance stories started out of this wish. I fell in love with romance stories during high school. Being a girl teenager, I discovered my affection for novels, especially romantic novels and stories such as Beauty and the Beast, Pride & Prejudice and Gone With the Wind. My journey into the world of romantic literature opened my eyes to the highs and lows of love — even though I knew nothing about romance and was yet to fall in love. This is when I knew that I wanted to write stories like that, romantic love stories with a happily-ever-after,” she said.

Apart from writing romance stories, Manciya also writes poetry. “I write lots of different types of poetry. I write love poems, spiritual poems, political poems, and so on. I write poems to stay attuned to the world around me. Writing poetry comes naturally to me; poetry is expressing me. Poetry is everyday life.” Her Catholic faith has a great influence on her writing. Some of her stories and poems have been specifically aimed at fellow Catholics, and have been published in the Archdiocesan News of Cape Town.

“Being Catholic has exposed me to many ways I can live out my faith, from expressing love for God and expressing love and support for others. It has led me to see life through a broader lens outside of myself and my mind. I find expression for all of this through my writing,” she explained.

A Catholic family

Manciya’s earliest memories of being Catholic go back to when she was about four years old, as a learner at St Anthony’s Catholic Pre-School in Cape Town’s Langa township. “Sr Maria Plach, a Holy Cross Sister, was my principal. I remember there was a statue of Mother Mary and a big rosary at the entrance of the crèche. From that early age I already knew about Mother Mary and the rosary. My mother said the rosary all the time, and she still does,” the 40-year-old recalled.

“My parish of St Anthony’s was right next to our pre-school, and we learners would sometimes attend Mass in the church. I enjoyed dunking my hand in the holy water — that was actually fun when I was kid. Walking with my parents and my sisters to the church was also something I always looked forward to on Sunday mornings. It was a 30-minutes’ walk, but we attended Mass on most Sundays. We would walk past all these other churches on our way to our parish, and this always made me think that there was something really special about my Catholic faith.” Her aunt is Sr Stephania Ranone, who in December celebrated 50 years as a Holy Cross Sister.

Now married — she did find love after all — and the mother of a teenage son, Manciya is particularly inspired by a priest of letters: Fr Ralph de Hahn. She agrees with his truism, “To write is a gift from God.” Catholic writers and journalists in South Africa have a crucial part to play in the development of the local Church, she said. “Writers and journalists have the potential to reach places in the world that can’t be reached in any other way. Our role as Catholic writers and journalists should be to use our voices to communicate things in a way that people want to read and take something from that, or even learn from it.” Through their writing, they can inspire and draw people to the Church.

“We writers need to ask ourselves this question: ‘What can I, as a Catholic writer, bring to the Church that no one else can?’ We must not be shy or stand back when it comes to playing an active role in what we can give through our writing. This is the role that people such as Fr de Hahn have played in the Church.”

Her mentor Fr de Hahn is a major influence on Manciya’s writing. The priest, now in his nineties, has published several books, and his reflections and short Christmas stories still appear frequently in The Southern Cross. “I first met Fr Ralph after reading two of his books. One was a collection of short stories and the other a collection of his poetry. I contacted him to express my admiration of his writing, and this has developed into a mentorship and friendship that I am very thankful for. He is delightfully inspiring.”

Published author

Manciya’s poetry has appeared in several anthologies of poems — always a competitive field — and she has also been published by a number of other publications and platforms, apart from Archdiocesan News. These include The Star, Amazon.com and The Piker Press. She also shares her work via her social media platforms, and, she noted, the feedback has been constructive.

“We now live in a technology-driven world where one’s work is exposed to readers across the globe, and I’m grateful for that. One of the most exciting things is to have someone from another continent send me a message via Messenger or email to let me know that they read and loved an online story or poem that I wrote. Many readers come across my stories and poetry via my social media accounts where I post a lot of my work. I feel blessed to state that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Last year Manciya posted a romance short story on Booknet.com, just to get feedback. “I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was one of the most-read short stories on the website for the year.” Now people ask her to write for events. “I’ve been commissioned to write and perform tribute poems for events such as memorial services, Women’s Day functions and other events,” she said.

Apart from writing stories and poetry for self-expression, Manciya also writes as a way of shedding light on various social ills, and thereby raise awareness . She recently made a contribution to the book Letting In the Light, an anthology on mental wellness in South Africa. “The aim of the anthology is to empower people through the written word about mental wellness. It also aims to broaden people’s knowledge on the issue, and to educate them about it. South Africa, and the entire globe, has been going through a very rough patch because of the Covid-19 epidemic. This has had an adverse effect on many people’s mental wellness, worldwide. I felt that I could contribute to this wonderful initiative and in the process play my part in the healing process of those mentally affected by the epidemic.”

Words can change lives

She has words of advice for budding novelists and poets in the Church: “Make Philippians 4:13 your daily scripture. Internalise the fact that even when it seems impossible, it is possible through the strength that comes from Christ, and you can do all things through him. A poet or writer can honour God through their writing, or there might be someone out there who reads a story or poem, and their life changes for the better, or they may heal from any difficulties they were experiencing just by reading what you wrote,” she counselled.

“It’s also important for you to grow in your faith, as it will help you grow as a journalist or a poet or a writer. With all this said, you must also follow the basic rules of going after anything in life that you want. Pray, read a lot about whatever it is you want to pursue, get educated about it at college or however else, persevere and do not be discouraged. Your writing is a vocation — and a very important vocation for the Church. Your writing is a spiritual ministry, so honour it.”

When she is not working as a clinic administrator or writing, Manciya enjoys spending time with her teenage son, and the keen reader of The Southern Cross is also fond of craftwork, watching Christmas movies — “all year round” — and solving puzzles, crosswords and word searches. She also volunteers for animal rescue organisations, and has two dogs and three cats herself.