Tanya Burger’s New debut YA Fictional Novel – A Pocket of Potatoes: A Powerful Tale of Resilience and Inner Strength
By JULES LAVALLEE
How has growing up in South Africa shaped your future?
I was born and raised in South Africa to a British mom and a Swiss dad. I spent my formative years growing up on my grandmother’s farm in the Limpopo province before moving to the suburbs of Johannesburg when I started school. My grandmother was a very animated person and a great storyteller. I remember her telling me wonderful stories that really did take place, about the Voorttrekkers and about things that had happened to her in her own life. It is a strong South African tradition that stories are shared orally rather than in written form. She had a very positive impact on my life, not just the fond memories of growing up on her farm, but also, how invested she was in her grandchildren. I can remember her coming for tea one day with my great aunt Irita, in my Fort, (a structure that could be made out of branches, leaves, and any materials found, to represent your make-believe house or home) where I would serve her tea in my plastic teacups. She would pretend to eat my mud cakes as if they were real cakes.
It was a carefree childhood, where my imagination was allowed to run amok. I don’t think I had to wear a pair of shoes until I started formal schooling, which is very typical of growing up on a farm.
I was one of 5 kids as my parents divorced when I was 4. We moved around a lot as a family, and I can remember being in a different school almost every year of my school career.
I was 9 when my younger sister was born and raised her myself. It was always a childhood dream to write books. Circumstances dictated that I was unable to finish high school in the traditional sense and had to go out and work and put myself through school and then college and university. My first choice would have been to study family law, then Psychology, and finally teaching. However, it was not to be, as working full-time and studying part-time to put me through school meant that I did not get the required grades to go to law school. I think God’s hand was in it all along though, and having raised my younger sister, it seemed a natural progression to become a teacher.
Tell us about your debut YA fictional novel. A Pocket of Potatoes: A powerful tale of resilience and inner strength. What was your inspiration for your main character, Chaiya?
I use fiction to tell the truth. Chaiya is not just based on the story of one person. Rather, she is the coalescence of aspects of myself and my childhood, fiction, real life, current events, and sensitive issues that we are dealing with in society today, as well as aspects of children’s lives who I had taught and/or offered lay counseling to, all interwoven together to form this brave and resilient character, Chaiya.
It had always been a childhood dream to write. During the first Covid lockdown, I finally got the opportunity to start writing! Inspiration came from observing a young girl walking in a street downtown one day, and while I stood leaning in the hot Durban sun, waiting for my son to finish his learner’s license test, the story started to unfold in my imagination first. I have always been a daydreamer. I struggled with dyslexia and ADD at school, and only properly learnt how to read when I was 16 by forcing myself to learn, to finish a setwork book about a boy soldier, and I was desperate to know the outcome of the story. Once I committed myself to writing the book, the words just flowed out of me. I grew to have a ferocious appetite for books, as a result of overcoming these challenges. In A Pocket of Potatoes, I deliberately started each chapter with a picture, to help young adults and teenagers with learning barriers, be able to stay focused on the plot and help with comprehension, and those who struggle with motivation.
For me, this is a great achievement, becoming an author, and having a positive impact on young people’s lives. Having received a few rejection letters from publishing companies refusing to publish my book, I decided to self-publish. If you believe strongly in something, continue to water those seeds and nurture them until they grow into fruition.
Chaiya is a Hindi word, meaning “shade.” I wanted to depict Chaiya as a character living in the shadows of her other family members, being seen, yet unseen within her family. She faces a lot of neglect. Neglect and rejection are hidden, more subtle forms of abuse that are seldom picked up on yet can be more damaging than physical abuse. Chaiya is a character interwoven with truth and fiction. Based on the lives of the children I taught and counselled, my own experiences, as well as dealing with some very sensitive issues such as arranged or forced marriages, human trafficking, and abuse. All of my YA fictional novels will deal with sensitive issues that need to be brought into the light and spoken about, social justice issues and geo-political and geo-social issues. My next novel, as yet untitled, is set in Afghanistan, and is about a young girl who is forced to flee her village with her family when the conflict breaks out. Being able to cater for the YA market meant I could write sensitively about real issues such as human trafficking and arranged marriages and they would have the maturity to be able to read them.
Takeaways
This book isn’t just intended to be read by teenagers and young people who have been trafficked or abused or forced into an arranged marriage, it is intended to inspire people to never give up, no matter the challenges and obstacles they may need to overcome.
What has working with children taught you?
Along the way, the children I have worked with have taught me humility and courage. I have also become a life-long learner in the changing needs of education. First studying in the Early Years and then doing a postgraduate degree in Inclusive Education and now more recently studying towards a master’s degree in psychology. And along the way, the common strand or thread, has been students with emotional and psychological barriers and learning barriers and helping them to overcome the challenges they face to be able to achieve. This stems, in part, from my struggle to learn to read. With ADD, came other challenges like difficulties in spatial orientation and the struggles I faced in the classroom. Human trafficking is an area close to my heart, because of the vulnerability of the victims. I have had the privilege of teaching in South Africa, the UAE, and the UK.
Mindset business
I think because of my creativity, I was longing for another outlet. Although teaching is rewarding, it doesn’t pay the bills and yet, I knew I still had a lot to offer. I became my first client in my mindset business, learning how to release old programming and self-limiting beliefs and learn to love myself first and let go of the past. I work closely with individuals and organizations to powerfully transform their external reality by changing their internal dialogue. For example, newly recruited real estate agents within an organization, aspiring to sell million-dollar real estate, but have not yet let go of their old programming regarding success, wealth, and abundance. I offer one-day mindset webinars virtually to individuals and bespoke packages to organizations to work with their employees. As with teaching and writing, coaching allows me to bring healing into people’s lives, to remove emotional blockages, and release any self-limiting beliefs by helping them to believe in their worth and value.
Although I am using various platforms, there is one common strand and that is healing.
My book is available on Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/eY5LUhK
