Award-Winning Author and Multi-Published Poet


"I do not write for a living. I write for servicing.

Writing is not only a passion but also tremendous courage. The courage to – expose thoughts in public, accept rejection, accept criticism, make mistakes, resolve own problems, find own style and keep writing. As long as I have courage and place no limits to my imagination or not allow rules to distract me, I will never run out of passion to write."

Gloria D. Gonsalves (Gonsalves is both her maiden name and pen name) is Tanzanian-German. She was born and raised in Tanzania. Her mother is Chagga, a tribe from Kilimanjaro. Her father is Luguru, a tribe from Morogoro and half Indian from Goa. She grew up in the town of Korogwe, in a family of three.

At the age of twenty-six, she migrated to Ireland for further studies. After completion of her degree, she moved to Germany, where she completed her master’s degree. Gloria lives in a wine-growing village of Königswinter with her family.

By profession, Gloria is a multipotentialite. She is an author, poet, illustrator, philanthropist, former United Nations staff, and former tourism and travel professional.

She is also a self-taught creative writer, proofreader, and editor. Not just a writer, Gloria is a creative promoter for writing itself: she founded WoChiPoDa.com, an initiative aimed at instilling the love of poetry in children and young people.

She holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Environmental Sciences (Germany), a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Tourism Marketing (Ireland), and a Diploma (S.A.C Dip) in Professional Proofreading and Editing (UK).

In addition to Kiswahili, Gloria is an English fluent speaker and is conversational in German. She prefers to engage in writing than speaking. She will be interviewed only in writing.

HER WRITINGS

Gloria’s passion is making a positive difference in every person who reads what she writes and in the lives of all she aims to support through writing. In some of her creative writings, she imparts moral and spiritual lessons. Her literary works also aim to support humanitarian projects and inspire creativity in others, especially children. By having children participate in the literary work, she encourages them to want to be involved, arousing their interest in reading and writing more creative works.

Gloria tries to live by the principle of literary continuation (continuing, adding, and inventing). She sees the writing life as generally divided into three purposes: (a) those who open the way for aspiring writers, (b) those who pledge to serve others with the written word without fame and success, (c) those who are prominent and famously celebrated. There is nothing wrong with any of these. They are different battalions serving the writing legion. Writers cannot all fit in one order but can be one, two, or all of these three. As a writer, she must focus on maintaining, passing, and adding to the concept of her order, so it lives on.

So, what’s her writing purpose and order? Gloria enjoys writing poetry and what others call children’s writing (she prefers to call it writing for people not limited by genre). She also finds serenity in spiritual writing because writing is spiritual when exploring various experiences from life. As a writer, Gloria sees herself as one who aspires to inspire others without focusing on numbers.

Gloria’s writing has appeared in various literary magazines, platforms, and journals in Africa, Europe, and the USA, including being featured five times by National/Global Poetry Writing Month (Na/GloPoWriMo). Occasionally, she writes opinion pieces for newspapers. She is also fascinated by travel and art journaling. When taking a break from writing, she practices sketching and painting.

You can view a list of Gloria's published writings in publications, periodicals, and on platforms by clicking here.

 

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION