Oude Leeskamer, in collaboration with the Jakes Gerwel Foundation, is pleased to welcome Theolla Langenhoven as our next resident writer from 26 October to 9 November.

Theolla, who works at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), already has a versatile writing career. Several of her short stories and columns have appeared in Kuier since 2014, while her poetry has also been included in various collections. Her poems “Hou jou bek!”, “Die danger was toe in die huis” and “Hartklop van ’n ma” appear in Poets vannie Kaap: Lekka Poems, Volume 2, and “My pa die chameleon” was published in Inkspraak, Volume 3 (2022).

Her prayer book for teenagers, Die Here kom sterk deur (2023), received a Cape Flats Literary Award for Teenagers’ Books. Her debut novel, Soetroos van Saron, was published by Kwela Books in June 2026. Theolla participated in the Jakes Gerwel Foundation’s 2024 Bosberg book writing mentorship programme, where she worked on her manuscript under the mentorship of Suzette Myburgh.

This year, Theolla has been selected as one of the participants in the Second Book Writers’ Residency – a collaboration between the Jakes Gerwel Foundation and the Jannie Mouton Foundation’s Oude Leeskamer – which offers debut authors the opportunity to work on their second books with further mentorship.

During her residency at Oude Leeskamer, Theolla will once again work on her manuscript alongside Suzette Myburgh. This marks her third writer’s residency with the Jakes Gerwel Foundation – an opportunity she is particularly excited about.

We look forward to welcoming Theolla to the Writer’s Room and offering her the space to write, think and further shape her next manuscript.