Erika Bornman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her experience escaping from KwaSizabantu and her participation in News24’s exposé alleging this strict Christian mission is a cult is a cult riddled with abuse, the compassion she found writing about loved ones with whom she has longstanding conflict, how she approached crafting emotionally difficult passages, the legal advice she got about including controversial material in her memoir Mission of Malice, and why our voice matters.

Also in this episode: 

-the importance of therapy for memoirists

-working with hard deadlines

-building empathy through stories

Memoirs mentioned in this episode:

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

The Choice by Dr Edith Eger

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

The Witness Wore Red by Rebecca Musser

Lost Boy by Brent Jeffs and Maia Szalavitz

Wholly Unravelled by Keele Burgin

Unfollow by Meghan Phelps-Roper

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 

Always Another Country by Sisonke Msimang

Boy on the Run by Welcome Mandla Lishivha

Killing Karoline by Sara-Jayne King

Mad Bad Love by Sara-Jayne Makwala King

Erika Bornman has carved a career for herself in magazine publishing as a writer and editor, despite her lack of formal training. Her memoir is her first book and an important element in her quest to make the world a safer place for children. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with her two cats.

About her memoir Mission of Malice:

When Erika Bornman was nine years old, her family joined, and ultimately moved to, KwaSizabantu, a Christian mission in South Africa – a place touted as a nirvana, founded on egalitarian values. But something sinister lurks below the veneer of piousness here.

Life at KwaSizabantu is hard. Christianity is used to justify harsh punishments and congregants are forced to repent for their sins. Threats of physical violence ensure adherence to stringent rules. Parents are pitted against children. Friendships are discouraged. Isolated and alone, Erika lives in constant fear of eternal damnation.

At 17, her grooming at the hands of a senior mission counsellor begins. For the next five years, KwaSizabantu wages emotional, psychological and sexual warfare on her, until, finally, she manages to break free and walk away at the age of 21.

Escaping a restrictive religious community is difficult, but rehabilitation into ‘normal’ life after a decade of ritual humiliation, brainwashing and abuse is much more painful, as Erika soon discovers. She cannot ignore her knowledge of the grievous human-rights abuses being committed at KwaSizabantu, and so she embarks on a quest to expose the atrocities. With her help, News24 launches a seven-month investigation, culminating in a podcast that will go on to win the internationally renowned One World Media Award for Radio and Podcast in 2021.

In Mission of Malice: My Exodus from KwaSizabantu, Erika chronicles her journey from a fearful young girl to a fierce activist determined to do whatever it takes to save future generations and find personal redemption and self-acceptance.

Connect with Erika:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ebee40

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikabornman/

Website: www.erikabornman.com

Get Erika’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Malice-My-exodus-KwaSizabantu-ebook/dp/B09B45VMP6

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Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.

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Background photo: Canva

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers