Kulani Maringa was born in Limpopo, in a village called Valdezia and raised in Protea Glen, Soweto. She is a lover of words and best expresses herself through writing. She is a teacher by profession, a mother and a wife. Maringa completed her studies in Public Relations Assistant with Boston College in the year 2012, then she proceeded to study B.A in Community Development and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg which she completed in the year 2015 and in 2017 Maringa enrolled for PGCE: Senior and FET Phase with UNISA which she completed in the year 2018.
Maringa’s love for writing comes from reading. Growing up her grandfather used to send her and her aunt to the library to go and study on weekends, but she was too young to have a lot of study work at school she would then resort to reading books and novels while her aunt was doing her high school work. “As years progressed I found that I enjoyed writing essays in high school, I loved making up plots and imaginary characters in both the Xitsonga and English subjects and it was at that point that I first realised my love for writing.” Said Maringa.
The Surrogate is her first published book, but she has ten other stories that were published in online reading sites and also on her Facebook Page, The Surrogate is also available on Kindle as an E-Book. For those who prefer a copy they can get it from her on 0814242356 (calls and WhatsApp) or direct from Amazon which will cost you R260.00.
Maringa is inspired by three South African authors which are Takalani M, Khathu Maestro and Matshidiso Bella.
The Surrogate is about a girl who’s a graduate and struggling to get a job, she needs money so she can avoid having to return home to her parent’s house and so when the opportunity arises for her to be a surrogate to a man who lost his fiancée years ago she grabs it thinking it will be a smooth sailing only to find that the sailing is anything but smooth. The story consists of unexpected twists, drama and of course romance.
After the release of the book Maringa got radio Interviews from a community radio station [Sloot Fm] and a national radio station [Munghana Lonene Fm] where she was talking about her book and her Journey as a writer.
The Surrogate was a story that came to her head she explained, “just as I was laying out the plot and sequence of events the name just came up to me as well. I don’t usually struggle with titles as they just come naturally or are derived from”.