Cynthia Jele

Biography

"Nozizwe Cynthia Jele is a South African novelist. Her debut novel, Happiness is a Four-Letter Word (Kwela Books, 2010), has won numerous awards including the Best First Book category (Africa region) in the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2011 and 2011 M-Net Literary Award in the Film category. The book was adapted into film and released at the box office countrywide in February 2016. The Ones with Purpose is Nozizwe’s second novel. It was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize (2019) and University of Johannesburg for South African Writing in English (2019). The Ones with Purpose is currently longlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award." - Go See Do South Africa