Poet continues to inspire with her writing

CANCER survivor, author and poet Brenda Mohammed has been presented with the Prashamshith Pathr (Certificate of Honour) by the writers’ forum Motivational Strips and India Government’s premier literary institution Gujarat Sahitya Akademi.

The Motivational Strips forum has attracted writers from 163 countries and visitors to its page exceed 7.3 million per month.

On the occasion of India’s 74th Independence Day, Motivational Strips collaborated with the Indian Government’s Gujarat Sahitya Akademi to honour 350 poets and writers from 80 countries. Mohammed was among those selected.

The founder of Motivational Strips, Shiju H Pallithazheth applauded Mohammed for bringing pride to TT and making a mark in global literature. The 75-year-old from Vistabella, south Trinidad began her writing career in 2013 when the daily documentation of her battle with cancer and recovery, transitioned into I am Cancer Free: A Memoir. Published and available on Amazon, the book became a best seller and also won the McGrath House Indie Book Awards 2016 in the non-fiction category.

Mohammed said the success of this book encouraged her to continue writing. To date, she has written 27 books and is working on her 28th.

Her literary works include six memoirs, a science fiction series, children’s books, romance, several short stories plus the self-help book, How to Write for Success. She is also an advocate for suicide prevention and a campaigner against domestic violence, which has inspired the production of the two-volume anthology, A spark of Hope: A Treasury of Poems for Saving Lives and the co-authoring of an anthology against domestic violence – Break the Silence.

She has has received a number of other international awards and certification. In 2018, Mohammed was made an honorary member of the World Higher Literary/Academic Council of the World Nations Writers' Union, Kazakhstan.

She has received several awards from the World Nations Writers’ Union, including the World Laureate in Literature in December 2018, and the World Poetic Star Award in August 2019.

She said her age is no barrier to her appetite to continue writing.

“I can write on any topic, from sci-fi to romance," she says, "and I don’t intend to let my age stop me from fulfilling."