Today we talk about Slum Heaven Gamblers, a book by Lungile Lolo Lubuzo published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Lungile Lolo Lubuzo, to get to know her better, where and when she found the inspiration to write her debut book Slum Heaven Gamblers, as well as if she sees some resemblances in the protagonist of her story.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where and when did you find the inspiration to write your debut book?
The affection of my sixth-grade teacher propelled the desire to compose and have published a work of literature. As children we would tell ourselves what we are exceptional in and how we would most likely benefit and make a liking out of it. The possibility of making a liking out of being an author published or not was always very slim and rather lacking in the possibility of publication. Writing Slum Heaven Gamblers was more of a pleasurable therapeutic experience for me rather than work. Close friends would ask me what I hope to gain and I would reply to live the dream of being a published author and the possibilities it may create for me. The journey of compiling the book began on the year 2013 when I took a pen and book and began writing whatever came to mind, the name Slum Heaven Gamblers only came on the year 2018 when I had just finished chapter seven. From time to time, I would forget I was on a mission of writing a book and having it published and be a success not just for me but in honor of my house and family. Seeing the event of my surrounding I gain much inspiration so of which is true stories told in a fictional manner.
- What is the message you want to convey to your readers?
The world in which we live in has long gone stale of its innocence. Many lay victim to the truth that confronts them and lay prey to the pain and wounds of the mind that may never heal or being to understand the situation before them, thus the title SLUM. The heaven, the once was, has become a slum and the man a gambler. I would be wishful to say a man should love his woman and a woman her child so that the small thing is to be taken care of, so that the child would grow well and decide on good virtu rather than greed for self-entitlement. Many such as myself have a wound rather than a fear to bear a child in the time of today. Desperation has taken hold of many people’s minds and heart prisoners. The story itself has no happy ending because the possibility of a happy ending is dim.
- What resemblances do you see with the protagonist of your story?
The protagonist of the story is the girl and how she maintains her purity even in the slum of things, amongst the ill that confronts her, even though the strength of her purity kills her and makes her seem stupid and senseless. The human being that loves unconditional as if they were a god that knows all about the future. Lucilar is the protagonist of purity that can be seen in all children just enjoying and receiving what life gives and offers. Denying the belligerence of the truth that may harm her belief and in vain the harsh reality consumes her sunset like darkness in the bliss of life. It is rather sad that people entertain such harmful growth with “it’s a part of life” words being said as comfort.
- What sensations did you feel by reading your life on the pages of your first book?
Slum heaven gamblers is not mainly about my own experience but the experience of people I have met and events I had seen that frightened me and created a scare into my life and vows. The change of just experience and writing what I had seen was therapeutic yet at the same time I was overcome by grief. The idea of what life is as being taught by mother and father as a child had seemed more like a dream of heaven rather than a way of life. Reading my belief and understanding of the community I find myself in shocked me to the point that I found it hard to edit what I had written because I myself at times didn’t understand what I had proposed to mean in the context of the story. The story itself seemed unfinished to me and the chapters cut off with no ending and sometimes seemed to have no meaning. But I enjoyed the understanding I seem to have about the world around me.
- Are you working on a new writing project, you can tell us about?
I have not yet decided on whether to finish writing another explicit story or a collection of poetry, either way I am most likely to enjoy the journey. The collection of poetry is called the seasons of the soul based on life experience more on descriptive motion of everyday life, such as life, birth, death, growth, family etc. I don’t know which one I will be more dedicated in completing but it will be fun to see the end product. I have always loved poetry more than story telling. And I hope to have it done in two years.
Europe Books thanks the author, Lungile Lolo Lubuzo, once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Slum Heaven Gamblers. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my readers, may this book provide you with food for thought on your personal life in order to understand if there are some of its aspects to be improved and make more pleasant, enjoyable; once acquired, do everything possible to make them real and achievable.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!