A poet born and raised in Kramat, Faure is relishing the dozens of prized poetry accolades she has accumulated – 200 in a period of 18 months – and is now driven towards even further accomplishments like publishing a collection of her works and possibly producing a children’s book of verse.
Farah Diba Pastor, named 2021 Passion for Poetry winner of the year, writes thought-provoking poems about a variety of topics, their subject matter mostly about everyday-life situations that people from all walks of life can relate to, some of them even contentious. These include fairy tales and family life, although she doesn’t shy away from such topics such as gender-based violence (GBV), domestic violence and women and child abuse.
One of her poems, entitled Break the Silence, has already been featured in a domestic violence video by DEFY (Domestic Abuse Family Services) in Beloit in Wisconsin, USA, as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The 51-year-old Pastor has seven sisters and four brothers, attended Oklahoma Street Primary School and Macassar High School, and studied at The College of Cape Town.
She has worked as an architect at JLB Lombaard Daniels Ngalimane in Woodstock for 22 years.
Asked how she got into writing poetry, Pastor said back in 2014 her then seven-year-old son had to write a short poem on winter, which was quite difficult for him.
“I wrote a short poem on his behalf, followed by another four. I didn’t write again until July last year, when a few of my friends encouraged me to enter international poetry competitions on social media, especially where a theme is provided and one must meet a submission deadline of 24 hours.”
She started seeing what had started as a fun exercise through new eyes after feedback received from people who had read her poems.
Pastor now belongs to four international poetry groups and collectively her accolades include winning rhodium, platinum, diamond, gold, silver and bronze awards.
“I never do things for monetary reward,” she explained. “I work in a highly competitive sector, therefore my job is high-pressure. Poetry writing helps me relax; it is a form of debriefing after reading and hearing about the horrendous and senseless acts of violence that occur every day.”
Pastor is also developing a preference for certain subjects, particularly those that are well-received, a sense of what resonates or works, or doesn’t.
“The light-hearted poems are humorous and hopefully invoke happiness in the reader. The serious ones highlight the social ills experienced by our communities daily and are informative, because there are many myths and misconceptions about GBV, rape and other forms of abuse. I also use the poems to raise and reinforce awareness among whomever reads them.”
Although she writes about serious topics, she ensures the poems make for easy reading and can be enjoyed by both young and old.
“Feedback already received from people who have had the opportunity to read them has been positive. My poetry needs to be shared far and wide if I want to make a meaningful impact in raising awareness about social ills. I would like to compile a book of poetry and also write a children’s book which teaches children about their rights and responsibilities in a fun way.”
Pastor implored parents to encourage their children to read more. “Too many children are struggling at school as they are unable to read at an appropriate level. To aspiring young poets I say: keep on persevering and do not be afraid to make mistakes. As a famous person once said: ‘The only person who makes no mistakes is the one who never does anything’.”
Pastor’s work can be found on the Mckinley publishing hub (“All I want for Christmas”, “I love you to the moon and back”, “Mother’s embrace”, “Rainbows & daydreams” and Sweetycat Press: (“Beautiful – In the eye of the beholder”) and other sites.
