Our Student Success Stories
Here are some success stories from our students from around the world.
If your story, manuscript or article was accepted for publication after completing one of our courses, please do let us know: admin@sawriterscollege.co.za
From a Stephen King Novel to the Shelves of the World — Celebrating Martin Steyn!
Martin Steyn came to SA Writers’ College to study the Write a Novel Course, and left with the manuscript that would launch one of the most celebrated careers in Afrikaans crime fiction.
Martin’s path to writing was anything but a straight line. As a boy, he wasn’t a passionate reader, but then at age fifteen, he picked up a Stephen King novel at the local library and everything changed. It was while reading IT that the writing bug truly bit. His first story — 26 handwritten pages crammed with devil worshippers and space aliens — was, by his own admission, not particularly wonderful. But he was hooked.
Martin studied at SA Writers’ College with acclaimed Afrikaans author Wilna Adriaanse. Working on his manuscript chapter by chapter through the course, Martin found in Wilna not just a tutor but a turning point. Her sharp editorial eye and unwavering support stayed with him long after the course ended, all the way to the final manuscript of Donker Spoor. In 2013, that manuscript landed on the desk of Cecilia Britz at LAPA Uitgewers. On what began as an ordinary day, an acceptance email arrived and Martin’s dream came true.
Since that debut, Martin has gone from strength to strength. Donker Spoor was published in English as Dark Traces, earning a prestigious Kirkus Star Review in 2017 — a rare honour awarded to only a fraction of books reviewed. His novels Donker Spoor and Skuldig both won the ATKV-Woordveertjie for Spanningslektuur (the top Afrikaans prize for thriller fiction) in 2015 and 2016 respectively. His work has been translated into English, Turkish and Albanian, bringing South African crime fiction to readers across the globe. His most recent novel, Donker Water (2024), was met with rapturous reviews, and his short story collection Skimme en Spoorsoekers followed in 2026.
Six novels. International translations. Award after award. And it all began with a writing course that changed everything.
Martin is proof that the right tutor at the right moment can unlock a remarkable writing career.
How One of Our Students Became New Zealand’s Most Wanted… Author
We are so proud of one of our very own graduates in New Zealand, Gareth Ward, who studied on the Write a Novel Course under the guidance of the wonderful Alex Smith.
Gareth wrote The Traitor and the Thief on the course, described by readers as ‘a cracker’ and ‘a story for all ages’. This thrilling steampunk adventure went on to win the 2016 Storylines Tessa Duder Award, the 2018 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Youth Novel, and a 2018 Storylines Notable Book Award, as well as being a finalist in two categories at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Not bad for a debut!
But Gareth was just getting started. Since then, he has built an impressive and wonderfully varied catalogue of eight novels, from the steampunk sequel The Clockill and the Thief, to the comic fantasy of the Tarquin the Honest series, to the cosy crime world of The Bookshop Detectives (co-authored with his wife, Louise).
The latest series has taken on a life of its own, with Dead Girl Gone becoming the number one bestselling New Zealand fiction title of 2024, and the follow-up, Tea and Cake and Death, taking home the Booksellers’ Choice Adult Award in 2025.
Gareth, you give courage to every writer who has ever stared at a blank page and wondered what if. We couldn’t be more delighted for you!
From the TV Screen to the Page: Celebrating Salamina Mosese!
Well-known TV actress Salamina Mosese had a blog she’d been running for years. She even named it A Page In My Book, because she always knew a book was coming. She just kept putting it off. Life, as it does, kept happening.
Then lockdown arrived. With a three-month-old baby, a ten-year-old to homeschool, and a creeping realisation that there were almost no books for South African children who looked like her daughter Tumi, Salamina finally sat down and enrolled in our Write a Children’s Book Course under the guidance of tutor Helen Brain.
‘I challenged myself to try and write a book for a child like my daughter that would be entertaining, light-hearted and entirely South African.’
Written on a barstool, at the kitchen table, from midnight until 3 a.m. each night, Disaster at Gogo’s Spaza was published by NB Publishers in 2022. It’s a warm, funny story of three cousins, their beloved Gogo and the chaos of children left briefly in charge. The sequel, Cook-Off at Gogo’s Spaza (2024), brought the family back together to celebrate South African food, community and the glorious mess of family life.
Her book went on to win both the Children’s Category and the Overall Award at the 2025 SA Book Awards.
Her third book, Neo’s Invisible Blanket (2025), turns its warm gaze to childhood fear and bravery, inspired by watching her nephew and daughters face their own small, daily battles.
One writing course led to three books, two major writing awards and a new generation of South African children finding themselves on the page.
Salamina, you are proof that the book you’ve been meaning to write is just waiting for you to start.
From Stage to Page: The Multi-Talented Literary Journey of Riaan Grobler
In the competitive arena of South African arts and entertainment, few individuals boast a repertoire as diverse and celebrated as Riaan Grobler. Already a household name as a vibrant PretoriaFM radio announcer, TV presenter, actor and chart-topping singer with seven national albums, Grobler recently achieved a thrilling career hat-trick by cementing his status as a bestselling Afrikaans novelist.
Grobler has possessed a lifelong passion for storytelling and enrolled in the Skryf ’n roman kursus (Write a Novel Course) at SA Writers’ College, stdying under the expert guidance of acclaimed romance novelist and tutor Elsa Winckler.
Over an intensive year and a half, Grobler crafted a high-stakes narrative. The result? His debut manuscript, Geheime op Philadelphia, was immediately snapped up and published by Luca, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa. Proving that his SA Writers College training laid the foundation for a sustainable literary career, Grobler penned another two novels, following up his bestselling debut with the hit romance Hospitaal Weltevreden and his third highly entertaining book, Die avonture van Helga Roets, published by Human & Rousseau. Today, alongside his role as a music compiler for RSG, Grobler continues to inspire writers nationwide, proving that structured mentorship can turn talent into commercial success. Read more about Riaan’s books here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/authors/riaan-grobler/
From Our Courses to the Bookshelves of a Nation — Celebrating Siya Masuku!
Siya Masuku completed our Basic Creative Writing Course in 2017 and then returned to study our Advanced Creative Writing Course in 2020. Because great writers never stop learning!
Siya arrived at SA Writers’ College already on a remarkable trajectory. The year before enrolling, he had successfully crowdfunded his own publishing platform at 113% of his target and released his first book, Siyafunda: isiZulu. He came to us hungry to sharpen his craft, and sharpen it he did. That same year he studied with us, he was honoured with the prestigious David Koloane Arts Writing Award, and went on to lecture at both the University of Johannesburg and North-West University on book arts, identity and cultural preservation.
Since then, Siya has authored, illustrated and published more than 20 works — spanning children’s picture books, young adult graphic novels and short animation film. His most ambitious works, the graphic novels Inhlansi (2022) and ZULOSOFI (2025), are written in isiZulu and English under his pen name KHULZULU, and carry forewords from two of South Africa’s most celebrated literary voices, Gcina Mhlophe and Sindiwe Magona respectively — a remarkable testament to the esteem in which his work is held.
But Siya is far more than a writer. He is a publisher, filmmaker, illustrator, advocate and institution-builder. He has served on the IBBY SA board, including as its Chairperson, joined the board of the National Library of South Africa, spoken at the Gothenburg Book Fair, and delivered the keynote at the 3rd Biennial Reading Summit in 2025. All of this in service of a single, powerful mission: getting indigenous languages — isiZulu, Setswana, isiXhosa, Sotho and Swazi — onto the bookshelves and screens of South African children.
Siya, you are an inspiration to every writer who has ever wanted to change the world, one story at a time. We couldn’t be prouder to call you one of our graduates.
Look What a Grammar Course Can Lead To — Celebrating Philisiwe Twijnstra!
We are delighted to feature one of our talented SA Writers’ College students, Philisiwe Twijnstra, whose writing journey reflects creativity, resilience and an unwavering commitment to telling bold and imaginative stories.
Philisiwe completed the Grammar Course at SA Writers’ College in 2016. While we cannot claim credit for her remarkable imagination and literary voice, the course gave her the confidence to pursue her creative ambitions more seriously. Within a month of graduating, she applied for an MA in Creative Writing, a pivotal step that introduced her to magical realism, folklore, speculative fiction and writers from across the globe.
Like many emerging writers, Philisiwe faced years of rejection before finally getting a breakthrough. In May 2025, she won the Jacana Literary Foundation’s prestigious From Pitch to Publication competition and in April 2026, her short story collection Flying Cows and Other Traumas was published by Jacana Media.
Her work includes contributions to Gendering Taboos: 10 Short Plays by African Women, a collaborative anthology of African women playwrights. Her plays in the collection include Yanci, The Arrangement, A Woman Has Two Mouths, Who Is in My Garden?, The Taste of Justice, Desperanza, Oh!, In Her Silence and Horny &. Her work explores memory, identity, folklore and the lived experiences of being a Black woman.
Her short story Little Black Sandals was shortlisted for the Short Sharp Story Award and later produced by Talisman Theatre in Kenilworth, UK. Her play Salty Pillows took second place at the PANSA Playwright Festival in 2017. She received the Stockholm Fringe Award for Best Digital Experience Play and the Good Theatre Award for Best Performer. In 2023, she was named among the Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans in Media & Film and received the AWPN/Ghana Playwright Academy Theatre Residency.
Today, Philisiwe is a writer in residence at Het Veerhuis in the Netherlands, where she is developing her latest play, Black Kitchen, while continuing to share Flying Cows and Other Traumas with readers around the world.
Rather than allowing rejection to silence her, she continued refining her craft, developing a distinctive voice that is fearless and unapologetically original. And it all kicked off with a Grammar Course!
From Numbers to Narrative: How a Writing Course Launched an Award-Winning Career
Can a creative writing course transform an aspiring writer into an award-winning novelist? The extraordinary path of New Zealand author Suzanne Main proves that it absolutely can. Before capturing the hearts of young readers nationwide, Main spent her days working as an accountant. However, a deep-seated desire to create led her to enrol in the Basics of Creative Writing Course at NZ Writers’ College, studying under the guidance of tutor Helen Brain.
This decision sparked a phenomenal literary career. Armed with the foundational tools, feedback and confidence gained during her studies, Main channelled her new skills directly into her debut children’s novel. The results were immediate and historic. Her manuscript for How I Alienated My Grandma won the prestigious 2014 Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award. Once published, it became a Storylines Notable Book and a children’s choice finalist in the 2015 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Far from a one-hit wonder, Main proved that the discipline and techniques learned in her course created a sustainable path forward. Her follow-up adventure, How Not to Stop a Kidnap, was named an NZ Book Awards finalist in 2018. Demonstrating the massive commercial appeal of her work, both novels were subsequently optioned for film. Main’s literary momentum has only grown, culminating in the 2025 release of her highly anticipated third novel, The Hatchling.
For any aspiring writer sitting on a story idea, Main’s transition to celebrated author is a huge inspiration, proving how structured mentorship and creative dedication can turn a distant dream into a thriving, multi-book career.
New Zealand Graduate Shelley Kirton: A Writing Journey of Dedication and Discovery
A graduate of the NZ Writers’ College, Shelley Kirton completed both the Short story Writing Course and the Advanced Short story Writing Course, and has been building an impressive body of work ever since. She did so while profoundly deaf, with neither hearing aids nor implants able to assist her. Writing, she says, has been her saviour.
Her first published short story, ‘The Peace Lily – A Story in Three Breakfasts’, appeared in MindFood magazine, inspired by – of all things – a peace lily in her bathroom. MindFood also published her short story ‘The Stray Cat Cafe Blues’ in 2022. Her work has since appeared in Flash Fiction Friday, Free Flash Fiction, The Centifictionist and Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine, among others. She also placed second in the Atlantis short story competition and was published in the resulting anthology.
The honours have continued to stack up. Shelley earned an Honourable Mention in the NZ Writers’ College Short Story Competition in 2020, was longlisted by the Australian Writers College in December 2021 and was published in the New Zealand anthology Pav Deconstructed in 2023. More recently, she has been a multiple finalist in the prestigious Women on Writing (WOW!) contests across both flash fiction and creative non-fiction essays and took out the top prize in the September 2024 WestWord Flash 1000 competition.
Her curiosity extends beyond fiction. Shelley has researched and written a 5,000-word non-fiction piece, How Deffe an Earre, which explores deafness from multiple perspectives, including that of deaf writers. She is also currently working on a 5,000-word memoir, and an 80,000-word short story collection. She describes her tutors at the Writers College as having taught her the power of effective, and sometimes ruthless, editing, and credits the discipline of structured learning as a powerful motivator.
Shelley’s story shows what steady, passionate dedication to writing can achieve – in any conditions.
Juliana Giraldo completed several of our creative writing courses. Juliana let us know,
‘My novel “Ain’t no wave pool” is now finally self published under the pen name JK Starling and earning good reviews. I would particularly like to thank Sonny Whitelaw and Alex Smith, who were amazing tutors.’
Well done Juliana!
Graduate student Catriona Findlay was a co-author of the book Searching for Ann Walker – an historical non-fiction anthology set in 19th-century England. It was published in April 2026. Here is the link to Amazon. https://amzn.eu/d/0cT42GWF.
Isobel Brink recently completed our Self-publish Your e-Book Course. She has now finished and published her first novel, ANNA (Stories of Dingle Bay). under the pen name Isa Brinn.
Etienne Lombard completed our Skryf ‘n roman kursus. He has published his first Afrikaans novel through Naledi publishing. You can see his latest work and his other publications on Goodreads.