2014 | The Retrospective

Koh Samui sunrise
Koh Samui sunrise, 4th December 2014

 

This year, in no particular order:

  • I wrote a few pieces I was happy with.
  • I learnt how to swim.
  • Our family lost two patriarchs. The spaces they’ve left behind are canyons.
  • I was pregnant for a little while. I was sad about losing the person I could have become but thankful that hope survives.
  • I graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Rhodes University.
  • A short story I wrote won the 2014 Writivism award in Uganda.
  • I’m beginning to feel a bit like I know what I’m doing.
  • We traveled (and are still travelling) through Southeast Asia. Here be the instagrams.
  • I have seen some really beautiful things.
  • There were two months out of this year where I kind of just plodded along.
  • I dyed my hair a shade of blond.
  • I lost weight and picked it all up again during those two months of non-presence. But I’m okay with that. Health is still the end goal.
  • I sold the car I’ve been driving ever since I got my license.
  • I am better at accepting criticism.
  • I have found the book I want to write.

Published by

saaleha

I am a writer and photographer (look up my work on www.shootcake.com) based in Johannesburg, South Africa. I have an MA in Creative Writing from the university currently known as Rhodes. My writing accolades include winning the 2014 Writivism Short Story Prize and the 2020 Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize for my debut collection, Zikr.

4 thoughts on “2014 | The Retrospective”

  1. This piece set my day alight. (postscript: i am not on instagram but looked at the amazing photographs of your year thanks to your link…my highlight was seeing your munched whole cucumber…because I have done that…and still do lol)

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