MEDIA personality, model and activist has added a new title to her name, author.
Known as Mzansi’s first professional fashion model with albinism, Refilwe Modiselle has broken countless barriers in the entertainment and fashion industries.
She’s now stepping into the literary world with a children’s book titled, Zinzi’s World: Through Her Vanilla Eyes.
The 38-year-old, who is also a voice-over artist, actress and public speaker, took to social media to share her excitement and gratitude.
“Adding Author to my resume is unbelievable. This is an unexpected dream coming to fruition after hearing people for years say, ‘When will you write a book Fi?’ This was a scary thought initially.
“Little did I know that destiny would facilitate this vision in the form of this children’s book you see here, Zinzi’s World: Through Her Vanilla Eyes,” she wrote.
Refilwe said the book is close to her heart and reflects not only her lived experience, but her passion for teaching kids about self-love, kindness and inclusion.
“I am proud to have ventured into this literary journey with @linguafrancapublishers, one of the leading educational book publishers in South Africa. Children have always held a sacred place in my heart, and I’ve also always felt like if I had a book to read that had representation for people like me, the world would be a lot kinder in grooming kids, with more emotional intelligence and teach people to be better human beings,” she said.
“So, this just wasn’t about writing a book, it was an intentional labour of love to teach children about embracing differences, albinism, bullying, sefl-love, respect, unity, diversity, inclusion, the love of parents, as well as many other multi-layered themes anyone can relate to.”
عرض هذا المنشور على Instagram
Refilwe, who started modelling at just 13 years old, said this book marks a big milestone.
“The first of its kind, a heartfelt body of work, written by the subject living in those exact shoes, given that we don’t have much material if any of this nature in the school curriculum nor readily available anywhere commercially. I hope and pray it fuels some education and the culture of reading too.
“I’m also reminded of how thankful I am that in my developmental years, my dad’s Reader’s Digest Book Club reinforcement came in handy. So I know he’d be extremely proud from the heavens of this project that I’m launching on his birthday weekend,” she wrote.
While details about where and how to get the book are still under wraps, fans can look forward to the official release and in-store book signing on 28 June.
