OWN is abbreviation for Our Writer’s Network. Its main objective is to pull from the expertise of writers of all kinds; academic and creative in the metro – particularly the young black writers I rub shoulders with. The purpose of focusing on young black writers is to shatter the myth of the one narrative. OWN is to spotlight the voice and views of young writers in a space that they can own – away from the overlooking eye of institutional trickery. Providing a space for writers to be as honest and if needed brutal as possible.

For the first OWN, four scripts written by Xolisa Ngubelanga, PE based scriptwriter will be availed for analysis. The scripts are namely:

Conversations with Victoria read 04 November, Analysed by Nothukela Mahambehlala
Synopsis
In post-colonial Africa youths carry the duty of restoring the African image and often find themselves being criminalized when they rage or speak against colonial land marks that remind them of a crude history. Conversations with Victoria, holds an axe on the neck of colonial statues all over Africa. As ancient Kings rise from the dead: they find a land they once ruled polluted with monuments of foreign origin.

Broken Lens read 04 November, Analysed by Olwam Mnqwazi
Synopsis
A young photographer haunted by misrepresentation of Africa returns to his village to document the ways of his land and people. After learning how photography was manipulated to compromise the character and history of his people. He finds power in the camera and vows to restore his people’s image one picture at a time.

Izim le Toilet read 05 November, Analysed by Suliwe Sihlwayi
Synopsis
A young girl Ncomeka is awakened by her mother for her first day of school, she rises with the dream of one day being a doctor to help people and earn enough to buy her mother a house. She tells her hopes and secrets to her magic doll Poppy that can talk and listen. Ncomeka’s greatest fear is the toilet at her school that has been giving her nightmares. Inspired by an incident early 2014 when a boy named Michael Komape drowned in a pit toilet.

DUMBURANZOU/Pieces of The African Drum read 05 November, Analysed by Munyaradzi Mwamuka
Synopsis
Two zama zamas in a Johannesburg mine get more than they bargained for in a mining operation. Mhofu a prophet from Zimbabwe gets a fit as his ancestral spirit takes over him. There is a secret underground that the ancestors are communicating. He must decide which is worth digging for, gold or his ancestral truth?