Arts
Veronique is known for her incredible spoken word poetry and rose to social media acclaim with the release of her poem “Dear Mr President'' which went viral. She wrote the play Hoe Change Hulle which debuted at the Toyota US Woordfees in 2020, directed by Lee-Ann van Rooi and starred Marlo Minnaar. This play was published in Staande Ovasie in 2020, alongside plays of Herschelle Benjamin, Igna Bota and Marcel Spaumer. She also showcased an extract of her script My Kroon se Krank at Teksmark in 2019, directed by Quanita Adams and starring Jephtas herself. Veronique received her BA (Hons) degree in Drama and Theatre studies, specialising in creative writing at Stellenbosch University in 2019. She was one of six writers chosen in July 2020 to attend the Jakes Gerwel house writer’s residency. Writing in Kaaps, she creates work that is authentic and claims space for those whose voice has not been listened to. Veronique holds the fight against gender-based violence near to her heart and uses her platform to speak out against it. She is an ambassador for Women for Change and speaks at events pertaining to these issues. Veronique was part of the Fiësta-winning family production Jakkals & Wolf Onbeperk (directed by Amelda Brand and written by Malan Steyn) and is currently on kykNET & kie’s telenova Arendsvlei, portraying the role of journalist Jo-Ann Opperman. In this podcast, Veronique dives into: ?The power of not prescribing to labels. ?Choosing yourself. ?Maintaining your peace and safeguarding your mental health. ?The practicality of writing: the process of writing for different forms. ?Creating depth in characters and allowing them to speak authentically. ?Learning from nature.