The founder and editor-in-chief of the Paper Trail Literary Journal, Ekta Somera, is filled with pride and appreciation as her vision of creating the Paper Trail Literary Journal has come full-circle, having celebrated the launch of its first edition on 31 October via Zoom.
The name ‘Paper Trail’ is derived from the concept of leaving behind something for others to follow. Somera said when she thinks back to her time at school, she realised that there weren’t enough opportunities for learners to explore the areas of their passion for writing and engage with each other creatively.
Somera said she created the Paper Trail Literary Journal with the intention of providing learners with a platform to express themselves in creative writing, poetry and art. “Our theme ‘Back in time’ explores feelings of reflection and considering the year we have all had with facing our fears and being forced to adapt to the adversities that we were faced with, I believe that going back in time will allow us to refocus on the treasured moments that live in our minds as memories,” she said.
Over the past few months, Somera has been hard at work promoting the journal at the Durban Book Fair, as well as at a Creative Minds Workshop which took place at the Local History Museum in Durban. Somera said: “Compiling this journal has been one great, big adventure, and I am most grateful to all the collaborators for bringing my idea to life. From rambling about my vision and promoting only our potential with a single piece of paper, the support we received before releasing this issue has been incredible.”
Rizana Hoosen, Chairperson of the the Literacy Association of South Africa (LITASA KZN), said: “We are extremely proud to have Ekta lead this youth initiative, she is an exceptional young woman who will certainly make a positive impact in the organisation.” For more details and to view the first issue online, visit https://linktr.ee/papertrailza.
