Meet Carmen Coetsee: Bookworm, academic and accidental journo

Growing up in a small town in the heart of the Garden Route in the Western Cape, Carmen Coetsee found joy in books early on. Luckily for her, everyone in her family loved reading and they always had books around the house.

With her books in tow, Carmen swapped the green of the Garden Route for the green of the Stellenbosch vineyards. She completed her undergraduate degree at Stellenbosch University and went on to complete her honours in General Linguistics. Currently, she is busy with her masters in linguistics.

Her love for reading has now become part of her job as a book reviewer for The South African. She has also been published in SARIE magazine as well as some Stellenbosch student magazines, namely Blindeye and Die Matie.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CARMEN COETSEE

1. Carmen is an avid book collector. She especially loves collecting old books. The oldest book in her collection is 150 years old.
2. The 24-year-old has three brothers. Despite some conflict in their teenage years, they are now thick as thieves.
3. Carmen has interviewed several authors throughout her journalism career. Among them are Gabriella Saab, Jesse Burton, and Jonathan Jansen.
4. Her first article was a book recommendation list, which she wrote while the world was in the grips of Covid-19.
5. If Carmen wasn’t a book reviewer, she would probably work in book publishing.

Calling all young women writers! Click here to find out about ‘The South African’s’ Women in Journalism programme.

COETSEE’S CHILDHOOD BUILT ON BOOKS

Growing up in a small village hidden away in the Wilderness mountains, books were the main source of entertainment for young Carmen.

“I was lucky enough to have parents who really fostered reading as a habit in our family home. I grew up surrounded by books and I am so grateful that I was lucky enough to fall in love with reading.”

Carmen Coetsee talking about her childhood

Her favourite childhood books include A Series of Unfortunate Events, Rivierplaas and Anne of Green Gables.

ADVICE FOR YOUNG, WOMEN JOURNALISTS

Carmen’s advice to young academics or female journalists is to read, read and then read some more.

“In a world where our attention span is constantly moulded to absorbing six-second videos, force your brain to slow down. Dive into overwhelming topics and books that scare you. Invest your time into your own mind and learn as much as you can”.

Read Carmen’s articles here.

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