List of South African writers
Encyclopedia
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- Lionel AbrahamsLionel AbrahamsLionel Abrahams was a South African novelist, poet, editor, critic, essayist and publisher. He was born in Johannesburg, where he lived his entire life...
, (1928-2004) - Peter AbrahamsPeter AbrahamsPeter Abrahams is a South African novelist.His father was from Ethiopia and his mother was classified by South Africa as a mixed race person, a "Kleurling" or Coloured. He was born in Vrededorp, nearby Johannesburg, but left South Africa in 1939...
, (1919– ) - Rehane AbrahamsRehane AbrahamsRehane Abrahams is a performance artist from Cape Town, South Africa. She has performed several works, from Shakespeare to contemporary productions in South Africa and in the America. She was a recipient of the FNB Vita Award for Best Actress in 2001. She is a co-founder of The Mothertongue...
, (1970– ) - Tatamkulu AfrikaTatamkulu AfrikaTatamkulu Afrika was a South African poet and writer.-Writing:...
, born in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, (1920–2002) - Hennie AucampHennie AucampHennie Aucamp is an Afrikaans poet, short story writer, cabaretist and academic. He grew up on a farm in the Stormberg highlands and matriculated in Jamestown before continuing his higher education at the University of Stellenbosch...
, (1934– ) - Christiaan BakkesChristiaan BakkesChristiaan Mathys Bakkes is a noted South African writer. He is the son of Cas and Margaret Bakkes and the brother of C. Johan Bakkes....
, (1965– ) - C. Johan BakkesC. Johan BakkesC. Johan Bakkes is a noted South African writer. He is the son of Cas and Margaret Bakkes and the brother of Christiaan Bakkes. He is married to the artist Nanna Vorster-Bakkes....
- Margaret BakkesMargaret BakkesMargaret Bakkes is a noted South African writer. She is married to historian Cas Bakkes, and is the mother of four children: Johannes, Marius, Matilde and Christiaan. Two of her children, C...
, (1931– ) - Shabbir BanoobhaiShabbir BanoobhaiShabbir Banoobhai is a South African poet.He was born in Durban and, after school wanted to study at University. The costs were prohibitive, and instead he studied to become a teacher at Springfield College...
, (1949– ) - Lady Anne BarnardLady Anne BarnardLady Anne Barnard , née Anne Lindsay, eldest daughter of James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres was born at Balcarres House, Fife, Scotland. She was author of the ballad Auld Robin Gray and an accomplished travel writer, artist and socialite of the period...
, (1750–1825) - Mark BehrMark BehrMark Behr is a Tanzanian writer in South Africa. He is currently professor of Creative Writing at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN. He has been professor of World Literature and Fiction Writing at the College of Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico...
, South Africa/Tanzania, (1963– ) - Dricky BeukesDricky BeukesDricky Beukes was a writer of Afrikaans novels, short stories and radio dramas. Beukes wrote more than a hundred Afrikaans novels, a large number of short stories and numerous Afrikaans radio dramas, including some extensive pieces for the commercial station Springbok Radio.She was born in Prieska...
, (1918–1999) - Steve BikoSteve BikoStephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
(1946–1977) - Troy BlacklawsTroy BlacklawsTroy Blacklaws is an author from South Africa. He was born on 9 September 1965 in Natal Province. After his schooling at Paarl Boys' High School he studied at Rhodes University before being drafted. After his time in the army Blacklaws began teaching English....
, (1965– ) - François BloemhofFrançois BloemhofFrançois Bloemhof is a South African author. He writes mostly in Afrikaans and has won a number of prizes for his work.-Biography:Bloemhof was born in 1962 in Paarl. He made his debut in 1991 with the novel Die nag het net een oog, for which he received the De Kat Prize...
, (1962– ) - Elleke BoehmerElleke BoehmerElleke Boehmer is an academic and writer, born in South Africa. She is a literary critic who specialises in international writing in English, teaching world literature at Oxford University...
(1961– ) - Herman Charles BosmanHerman Charles BosmanHerman Charles Bosman is the South African writer widely regarded as South Africa's greatest short story writer. He studied the works of Edgar Alan Poe and Mark Twain, and developed a style emphasizing the use of irony...
, (1905–1951) - Diphete BopapeDiphete BopapeHeniel Diphete D. Bopape is a South African novelist, playwright and journalist.Bopape was born in Transvaal Province, in what today is Limpopo. He graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Unisa in 1987. At the time he was lecturing full-time at Dr. C.N. Phatudi College...
(1957– ) - Alba BouwerAlba BouwerAlbertha Magdalena Bouwer was a South African Afrikaans-writing journalist and author. She is best known for her series of children's stories about the experiences of a small girl called Alie growing up in the fictional location Rivierplaas in rural Free State...
, (1920– ) - Johanna BrandtJohanna BrandtJohanna Brandt was a South African propagandist of Afrikaner nationalism, spy during the Boer War, prophet and writer on controversial health subjects.- Biography :...
, (1876–1964) - Breyten BreytenbachBreyten BreytenbachBreyten Breytenbach is a South African writer and painter with French citizenship.-Biography:Breyten Breytenbach was born in Bonnievale, Western Cape, approximately 180 km from Cape Town and 100 km from the southernmost tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas...
, (1939– ) - Andre BrinkAndré BrinkAndré Philippus Brink, OIS, is a South African novelist. He writes in Afrikaans and English and is a Professor of English at the University of Cape Town....
, (1935– ) - Dennis BrutusDennis BrutusDennis Vincent Brutus was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have apartheid South Africa banned from the Olympic Games.-Life and work:...
, (1924–2009) - Guy ButlerGuy Butler (poet)Guy Butler was a South African poet and writer....
(1918–2001) - Roy CampbellRoy Campbell (poet)Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, was an Anglo-African poet and satirist. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars...
(1901–1957) - Stuart CloeteStuart CloeteEdward Fairly Stuart Graham Cloete was a South African novelist, essayist, biographer and short story writer.- Biography :Cloete was born in Paris, France to a French mother and South African father...
, (1897–1976) - J.M. Coetzee, awarded the 2003 Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in Literature, (1940– ) - Bryce CourtenayBryce CourtenayArthur Bryce Courtenay AM is a South-African-born naturalized Australian novelist and one of Australia's most commercially successful authors.-Background and early years:...
, (1933– ) - Jeremy CroninJeremy CroninJeremy Cronin is a South African writer, author, and noted poet. A longtime activist in politics, Cronin is a member of the South African Communist Party is a member of the National Executive Committee member of the African National Congress...
, (1949– ) - Patrick CullinanPatrick CullinanPatrick Roland Cullinan was a South African poet and biographer.He was born in Pretoria into a significant diamond-mining family and attended Charterhouse School and Oxford University in England...
, (1932– )
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- Achmat DangorAchmat DangorAchmat Dangor is a South African writer. His most important works include the novels Kafka's Curse and Bitter Fruit , but he is also the author of three collections of poetry, a novella and a short-story collection...
, (1948– ) - Ingrid de KokIngrid de Kok- Biography :Ingrid de Kok grew up in Stilfontein, a gold mining town in what was then the Western Transvaal. When she was 12 years old, her parents moved to Johannesburg. In 1977 she emigrated to Canada where she lived until returning to South Africa in 1984. She has one child, a son...
, (1951– ) - Rolfes Robert Reginald DhlomoRolfes Robert Reginald DhlomoRolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo was a South African novelist. His novella An African Tragedy, published in 1928 was the first fiction work written by a black South African to appear in book form. Together with his brother Herbert, he worked as a journalist and editor for the journals Bantu World and...
, (1901–1971) - Finuala DowlingFinuala DowlingFinuala Dowling is a South African poet and writer.The seventh of eight children born to radio broadcasters Eve van der Byl and Paddy Dowling, Finuala Dowling obtained an MA in English from the University of Cape Town before lecturing in English at the University of South Africa for eight years...
, (1962– ) - Zebulon DreadZebulon DreadElliot Josephs, better known as Zebulon Dread, is a South African cultural icon and writer. He is a controversial celebrity, known for his political views....
- K. Sello DuikerK. Sello DuikerKabelo "Sello" Duiker, , was a South African novelist. His debut novel, Thirteen Cents, won the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book written by an African writer...
, (1974–2005)
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- Ahmed EssopAhmed Essop (South Africa)Ahmed Essop was born in 1931 in India but grew up in Johannesburg. He attended the University of South Africa where he obtained a BA in 1956 and later an honours degree.Employed as a teacher until 1986, Essop gave up teaching to pursue writing full-time...
, born in India, grew up in Johannesburg (1931– ) - Tony EprileTony EprileTony Eprile is a South African writer now living in Vermont in the USA. He is the author of Temporary Sojourner and Other South African Stories , which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and The Persistence of Memory , which won the Koret Jewish Book Award, was a New York Times Notable...
, born Johannesburg, lives in U.S. - Elisabeth EybersElisabeth EybersElisabeth Françoise Eybers , was a South African poet. Her poetry was mainly in Afrikaans, although she has translated some of her own work into English....
, (1915– ) - Mary Faulkner, (1903–1973)
- Ruth FirstRuth FirstRuth First was a white South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar born in Johannesburg, South Africa...
, (1925–1982) - Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, (1862–1931)
- Charles J. FourieCharles J. FourieBorn in 1965 in South Africa Charles J. Fourie is an acclaimed South African playwright and director. Fourie staged his first play as drama-student at the Windybrow Theatre in 1985, and went on to receive the Henk Wybenga bursary as most promising student in the same year.Since, he has written more...
, (1965– ) - Lynne FreedLynne Freed-Life:She came to the U.S. first as a foreign exchange student, and then went on to receive an M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from Columbia University...
- Dave FreerDave FreerDave Freer is a South African-born science fiction author writing mostly humorous or alternate history novels.He was conscripted into the South African Defence Force and sent to the Angolan Border as a medic....
, (1959– ) - Graeme FriedmanGraeme FriedmanGraeme Friedman is a clinical psychologist and an award-winning writer whose short stories have appeared in anthologies published internationally . His latest book is The Fossil Artist , a novel about crime, authenticity, what it means to be human and how we come to love, has been has been...
- Athol FugardAthol FugardAthol Fugard is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director who writes in English, best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid and for the 2005 Academy-Award winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood...
, (1932– ) - Sheila Fugard, born in England (1932– )
- Damon GalgutDamon GalgutDamon Galgut is an award-winning South African playwright and novelist.-Life and career:Galgut was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1963. His family, of European stock, had strong ties to the South African judiciary. When he was six years old, Galgut was diagnosed with cancer, a trauma which he...
, (1963– ) - Nadine GordimerNadine GordimerNadine Gordimer is a South African writer and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature when she was recognised as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".Her writing has long dealt...
, awarded the 1991 Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in Literature, (1923– ) - Stephen GrayStephen Gray (writer)Stephen Gray is a South African writer and critic who was born in Cape Town in 1941. He studied at the University of Cape Town, Cambridge University, England, and the University of Iowa, USA. Until 1992 he was Professor of English at the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg.Gray is a prolific...
, (1941– ) - Michael Cawood GreenMichael Cawood GreenMichael Cawood Green is a South African born academic and writer.As a researcher he is most noted for his monograph, Novel Histories which explores the uses of history in South African fiction...
, (1954– ) - Mafika GwalaMafika GwalaMafika Pascal Gwala is a contemporary South African poet and editor, writing in English and Zulu.Mafika Gwala was born and grew up in [Verulam] North of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. He spent most of his adult life in Mpumalanga Township, west of Durban...
, (1946– )
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- Joan HambidgeJoan HambidgeJoan Helene Hambidge is an Afrikaans poet, literary theorist and academic . She is without a doubt the most prolific poet in Afrikaans, controversial as a public figure and critic and notorious for her out-of-the-closet style of writing...
, (1956– ) - Bessie HeadBessie HeadBessie Emery Head is usually considered Botswana's most influential writer.-Biography:Bessie Emery Head was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the child of a wealthy white South African woman and a black servant when interracial relationships were illegal in South Africa...
, born in South Africa but usually seen as a Botswanan writer, (1937–1986) - Manu HerbsteinManu HerbsteinManu Herbstein is the South African author of Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade , which won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, the first time the award had been given to an electronic book. The companion web site to his novel is at http://www.ama.africatoday.com where...
, (1936– ) - Christopher HopeChristopher HopeChristopher Hope is a South African novelist and poet who is known for his controversial works dealing with racism and politics in South Africa.-Life:...
, (1944– ) - Emma HuismansEmma HuismansEmma Huismans is an Afrikaans writer, journalist, and activist born in the Netherlands. At the age of five her family moved to South Africa where she learned Afrikaans. She was later a reporter for Crisis News. Her efforts against apartheid were complicated by her being white, Afrikaans, and lesbian...
, (1947– ) - Robin HydeRobin HydeRobin Hyde is one of New Zealand's major poets. She was born Iris Guiver Wilkinson in Cape Town, South Africa and taken to Wellington, New Zealand before her first birthday. She had her secondary education at Wellington Girls' College where she wrote poetry and short stories for the school...
, born in South Africa but usually seen as a New Zealand writer, (1906–1939) - Mhlobo JadezweniMhlobo JadezweniMhlobo Jadezweni is a South African academic. He studied at Fort Hare University. He has been attached to the Department of African Languages at Stellenbosch University since 1983, where he teaches Xhosa literature and language, and studies isiXhosa poetry...
, (1954– ) - Ingrid JonkerIngrid JonkerIngrid Jonker , was a South African poet. Although she wrote in Afrikaans, her poems have been widely translated into other languages...
, (1933–1965) - Archibald Campbell JordanArchibald Campbell JordanArchibald Campbell Mzolisa Jordan was a novelist, literary historian and intellectual pioneer of African studies in South Africa.-Early life:...
, (1906–1968) - Elsa JoubertElsa JoubertElsa Joubert , born as Elsabé Antoinette Murray on 19 October 1922 in Paarl, is an Afrikaans-speaking South African writer. Elsa Joubert rose to prominence with her novel Die swerfjare van Poppie Nongena, which was translated into 13 languages and also staged as a drama.Elsa Joubert grew up in...
, (1922– ) - Gideon JoubertGideon JoubertGideon Joubert was a South African writer and journalist who was known for his Intelligent Design-opinions, especially present in his book, Die Groot Gedagte, which was his biggest success.- Life :...
, (1923– )
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- Farida KarodiaFarida KarodiaFarida Karodia is a South African novelist and short-story writer.By 1961 she was teaching in Johannesburg, South Africa and also Zambia. In 1968 the government of South Africa withdrew her passport so she emigrated to Canada...
, (1942– ) - Anne KellasAnne KellasAnne Kellas is a South African poet, reviewer and editor.She was born in Germiston in 1951 in what was then the Transvaal, now Gauteng, in South Africa. Her earliest work appeared in 1968 but she began writing seriously in 1975 when she met up with a group of writers associated with Lionel Abrahams...
, also connected with AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1951– ) - Antjie KrogAntjie KrogAntjie Krog, born October 23, 1952 in Kroonstad, Orange Free State, South Africa, is a prominent South African poet, academic and writer. In 2004 she joined the Arts faculty of the University of the Western Cape.- Early life :...
, (1952– ) - Mazisi KuneneMazisi KuneneMazisi Kunene was a South African poet best known for his poem Emperor Shaka the Great. While in exile from South Africa's apartheid regime, Kunene was an active supporter and organizer of the anti-apartheid movement in Europe and Africa...
, (1930–2006) - Richard KunzmannRichard KunzmannRichard Kunzmann is a Namibian born novelist, predominantly of crime fiction. He grew up in South Africa. His first novel, Bloody Harvests, in a murder mystery set in South Africa and features the police detectives Harry Mason and Jacob Tsahbalala...
, (1976– ) - Ellen KuzwayoEllen KuzwayoNnoseng Ellen Kate Kuzwayo was a women's rights activist and politician in South Africa. She was president of the African National Congress Youth League in the 1960s. In 1994 she was elected to the first post-apartheid South African Parliament...
, (1914–2006) - Alex La GumaAlex La GumaAlex La Guma was a South African novelist, leader of the South African Coloured People’s Organisation and a defendant in the Treason Trial, whose works helped characterise the movement against the apartheid era in South Africa...
, (1925–1985) - David LambkinDavid LambkinDavid Lambkin is an English novelist. He was born in England, but has spent many years in South Africa and Kenya.He divides his time between running his own advertising agency in Johannesburg and writing novels and articles...
- Anne LandsmanAnne LandsmanAnne Landsman is a South African-born novelist. She is the author of The Devil's Chimney and The Rowing Lesson, for which she won the 2009 Sunday Times Fiction Prize....
, (1959– ) - C.J. LangenhovenCornelis Jacobus LangenhovenCornelis Jacobus Langenhoven , wrote under the pen name C.J. Langenhoven and was better known as Sagmoedige Neelsie or Kerneels. He had a formidable role in South Africa's Afrikaans literature and cultural history, and was one of the young language's foremost promoters...
, (1873–1932) - Etienne LerouxEtienne LerouxEtienne Leroux was an influential Afrikaans author and a key member of the South African Sestigers literary movement. He was born on June 13 as Stephanus Petrus Daniël le Roux, son of S.P. Le Roux, a South African Minister of Agriculture....
, (1922–1989) - Graham Michael LeschGraham Michael LeschGraham Michael Lesch was a South African activist, who fought for human rights from all angles.He saw himself as a white man in Africa, here to set right the wrongs of his tribal line. He was a religious man that shared a deep spirituality with the ancestral heritage of the African continent. He...
, (1936–2007) - Douglas LivingstoneDouglas Livingstone (poet)Douglas Livingstone was a South African poet.He was born in Kuala Lumpur, but his family moved to Natal after his father was taken prisoner during the Japanese invasion of Malaya. He attended Kearsney College and in 1964, he started work as a marine biologist in Durban...
, born in Malaysia, (1932–1996) - Al LovejoyAl LovejoyAl Lovejoy is a South African writer.His first novel is an autobiography, detailing his life as a child in reform school, conscript, prisoner, international drug smuggler and addict.-External links:* *...
, (1963– )
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- Rozena MaartRozena MaartDr. Rozena Maart is a South African writer, and professor, currently living between Cape Town, South Africa and Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She has been recognized for her writing, and for her work opposing apartheid and violence against women...
, {1962; } - E.S. MadimaE.S. MadimaE.S. Madima was a South African writer in the Venda language.In 1954, Madima wrote the first novel in Venda, A Si Ene. It was later translated into English by his son, Tenda Madima...
- Tenda MadimaTenda MadimaTenda Madima is a South African writer.Madima was born in Venda, Limpopo, and holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of the Western Cape. He translated the first Venda language novel, A si Ene, written by his father E.S...
- Sindiwe MagonaSindiwe Magona-Early life and education:A native of the Transkei, she grew up in a township near Cape Town, where she worked as a domestic and completed her secondary education by correspondence. Magona later graduated from the University of South Africa and earned a graduate degree from Columbia...
, (1943– ) - Arthur MaimaneArthur MaimaneJohn Arthur Mogale Maimane , better known as Arthur Maimane, was a South African journalist born in Pretoria. Originally intending to study medicine, a young priest, Trevor Huddleston, persuaded him to take a vacation job at Drum magazine. As a result, he choose journalism as his life career...
, (1932–2005 ) - Rian MalanRian MalanRian Malan is a South African author, journalist, documentarist and songwriter of Afrikaner descent. He first rose to prominence as the author of the memoir My Traitor's Heart, which, like the bulk of his work, deals with South African society in a historical and contemporary perspective and...
, (1954– ) - Nelson MandelaNelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, (1918– ) - Chris MannChris MannChris Mann is an Australian composer, poet and performer specializing in the emerging field of compositional linguistics, coined by Kenneth Gaburo and described by Mann as "the mechanism whereby you understand what I'm thinking better than I do."...
, (1949– ) - Eugène MaraisEugene MaraisEugène Nielen Marais was a South African lawyer, naturalist, poet and writer.- His early years, before and during the Boer War :Marais was born in Pretoria, the thirteenth and last child of his parents, Jan Christiaan Nielen Marais and Catharina Helena Cornelia van Niekerk...
, (1871–1936) - John MateerJohn Mateer-Early life and education:He was born in Roodepoort, South Africa in 1971, and grew up on the outskirts of Johannesburg. He spent some of his childhood in Canada, before returning to South Africa in 1979. In 1989 he moved to Australia with his family. He attended the International Writing Program...
, also connected with AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, (1971– ) - Mark MathabaneMark MathabaneMark Mathabane is an author, lecturer, and a former collegiate tennis player and college professor.- Early life in South Africa :...
, (1981– ) - Dalene MattheeDalene MattheeDalene Matthee was a South African author who wrote mainly in Afrikaans, although her books were translated into fourteen other languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew and Icelandic....
, (1938–2005) - Todd MatshikizaTodd MatshikizaTodd Tozama Matshikiza was a South African jazz pianist, composer and journalist.-Overview:Matshikiza came from a musical family. He graduated from St Peter's College in Rosettenville, Johannesburg and went on to obtain a diploma in music and a teaching diploma. He then taught English and...
, (1921–1968) - Don MatteraDon MatteraDonato Francisco Mattera , better known as Don Mattera, is a South African poet and author.- Overview :...
, (1935– ) - James McClureJames H. McClureJames Howe McClure was a British author and journalist best known for his Kramer and Zondi mysteries set in South Africa....
, (1939–2006) - Michelle McGraneMichelle McGraneMichelle McGrane is a poet born in Zimbabwe in 1974. Her poetry has been published in local literary journals and internationally in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States....
, born in ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, (1974– ) - Zakes MdaZakes MdaZakes Mda , legally Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda , is a South African novelist, poet and playwright. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays.-Early life and education:...
, (1948– ) - John van MelleJohn van MelleJohn van Melle was the pen name of a Dutch-born South African author. His real name was Johannes van Melle....
, born in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, (1887–1953) - M.E.R.M.E.R.Maria Elizabeth Rothmann was an Afrikaans writer, and co-founder of the Voortrekkers youth movement. Her unique contribution to Afrikaans literature was an ethical didactic, cultural historic review of a bygone Afrikaans society.-Biography:She was born in Swellendam, in the then Cape Colony...
, (1875–1975) - Deon MeyerDeon MeyerDeon Godfrey Meyer is a South African thriller novelist, writing in Afrikaans. His books have been translated in 20 languages. He has also written numerous scripts for television and film.-Life and career:...
, (1951– ) - Gcina Mhlophe, (1959– )
- Kirsten MillerKirsten Miller (South African writer)Kirsten Miller is a South African novelist, writer and artist. Her first book Children on the Bridge: A Story of Autism in South Africa is an autobiographical account of her work as a tutor of autistic children...
- Bloke Modisane, (1924–1986)
- Casey MotsisiCasey MotsisiKarobo Moses Motsisi better known as Casey Motsisi or Casey 'Kid' Motsisi was a South African short story writer and journalist.He was born in Johannesburg and worked for a time in Pretoria as a teacher....
, (1932–1977) - Phaswane MpePhaswane MpePhaswane Mpe was a South African poet and novelist. He was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was a lecturer in African literature. His debut novel, Welcome to Our Hillbrow, was published in 2001...
, (1970–2004) - Es'kia (Ezekiel) MphahleleEzekiel MphahleleEs'kia Mphahlele was a South African writer, academic, artist and activist. He was born as Ezekiel Mphahlele but changed his name to Es'kia in 1977.-Biography:...
, (1919–2008 ) - Samuel E.K. MqhayiSamuel Edward Krune MqhayiSamuel Edward Krune Mqhayi was a Xhosa poet and historian.He was born in the Cape Province, South Africa to a Christian family. At the Lovedale institution he was trained as a teacher. In addition to teaching and helping to edit journals in the Xhosa language, he was appointed to the Xhosa Bible...
, (1875–1945) - Oswald Mtshali, (1940– )
- Ena MurrayEna MurrayEna Murray is a well-known Afrikaans writer. During the 33 years that she wrote full time, 131 titles appeared from her pen. She acquired renown mainly for her romance novels, but also wrote detective fiction, espionage fiction and adventure novels through which she reached a wide audience...
, (1936– ) - Vusamazulu Credo MutwaVusamazulu Credo MutwaVusamazulu Credo Mutwa is a Zulu Sangoma and Sanusi from South Africa. He is also the author of several books.-Early life:...
, (1921– )
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- Njabulo NdebeleNjabulo NdebeleProfessor Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele , an academic, a literary and a writer of fiction, is the former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Cape Town.- Life and career :...
, (1948– ) - Christopher Robert NicholsonChristopher Robert NicholsonChristopher Robert Nicholson is a South African high court judge and a former cricketer, who played one first-class match for South African Universities in 1967...
, (1945– ) - Lewis NkosiLewis NkosiLewis Nkosi was a South African writer and essayist. He was a multifaceted personality, and attempted every literary genre, literary criticism, poetry, drama, and novels.-Later life:...
, (1936– ) - Arthur NortjeArthur NortjeArthur Nortje was a South African poet.He was born in Oudtshoorn, and went to school in Port Elizabeth, being taught by the acclaimed writer Dennis Brutus...
, (1942–1970) - Sibusiso NyembeziSibusiso NyembeziCyril Lincoln Sibusiso Nyembezi A South African known as a Zulu novelist, poet, scholar, teacher and editor. He was strongly linked to Pietermaritzburg and known for nurturing young talent...
, (1919–2000)
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- Joy PackerJoy PackerJoy Petersen Packer was a South African author of autobiography and romantic adventure novels.Packer was born and educated in Cape Town, graduating as a journalist from the University of Cape Town. She worked initially as a free-lance journalist, in 1931 becoming a reporter for London's Daily...
, (1905–1977) - Raj PatelRaj PatelRaj Patel is a British-born American academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United States for extended periods. He is best known for his 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System...
- Alan PatonAlan PatonAlan Stewart Paton was a South African author and anti-apartheid activist.-Family:Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province , the son of a minor civil servant. After attending Maritzburg College, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Natal in his hometown, followed...
, (1903–1988) - Sol T. Plaatje, (1876–1932)
- Laurens van der PostLaurens van der PostSir Laurens Jan van der Post, CBE was a 20th century Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and...
, (1906–1996) - Jan RabieJan RabieJan Sebastian Rabie was an Afrikaans writer of short stories, novels and other literary works. He was born in George, and was the writer of twenty-one works...
, (1920–2001) - Richard RiveRichard Rive-Biography:Rive was born on 1 March 1931 in Caledon Street in the working-class coloured District Six of Cape Town.His father was African, and his mother was coloured, and Rive was given the latter classification under apartheid...
, (1931–1989) - Dan RoodtDan RoodtDaniel Francois Roodt is a South African activist, literary critic and writer.-Early life and education:Roodt was born in the mining town of Springs, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. He completed his schooling in Johannesburg, after which he enrolled for a Bachelors degree at the University of...
, (1957– ) - Daphne RookeDaphne RookeDaphne Marie Rooke was a South African author of works such as "Mittee", "Ratoons" and "Wizards' Country". She also wrote travel articles and books for children set in India, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.-Biography:Daphne Rooke was born in Boksburg, Transvaal; the youngest of six...
, (1914–2009) - Henrietta Rose-InnesHenrietta Rose-InnesHenrietta Rose-Innes is a South African novelist and short-story writer. She was the 2008 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing for her speculative-fiction story "Poison"....
, (1971– ) - Eric RosenthalEric Rosenthal (historian and author)Eric Rosenthal, was a South African historian and author. He was born in Newlands, Cape Town. He graduated with a law degree, later becoming a journalist and writer of many corporate histories...
, (1905–?) - Mary SadlerMary SadlerMary Sadler was born on 2 May 1941 in the Netherlands and emigrated with parents to South Africa while still a child. She grew up in Upington at the Orange River , the setting of her historical novel, Sand. She is currently working on a series of Afrikaans 'Westerns', with an adventurer called...
, (1941– ) - Riana ScheepersRiana ScheepersRiana Scheepers is an Afrikaans author. She received her PhD from the University of Cape Town. She writes children's books, short fiction, and poetry.-External links:***...
, (1957– ) - Karel SchoemanKarel SchoemanKarel Schoeman is a South African novelist, historian, translator and man of letters. The author of 18 novels and numerous works of history, he is one of South Africa's most awarded and highly-regarded authors. Although several of Schoeman's non-fiction works are available in English, he has...
, (1939– ) - Alan ScholefieldAlan ScholefieldAlan Scholefield is a South African writer famous for his Macrae and Silver series.He lives in Hampshire and is married to Australian novelist Anthea Goddard. They have three daughters....
, (1931– ) - Olive SchreinerOlive SchreinerOlive Schreiner was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm which has been highly acclaimed ever since its first publication in 1883 for the bold manner in which it dealt with some of the burning issues...
, (1855–1920) - Sipho SepamlaSipho SepamlaSydney Sipho Sepamla was a contemporary South African poet and novelist.Born in a township near Krugersdorp, Sipho Sepamla lived most of his life in Soweto. He studied teaching at Pretoria Normal College and published his first volume of poetry, Hurry Up to It!, in 1975...
, (1932–2007 ) - Mongane Wally SeroteMongane Wally SeroteMongane Wally Serote is a South African poet and writer. He was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg and went to school in Alexandra, Lesotho and Soweto. He first became involved in Black Consciousness when he was finishing high school in Soweto...
, (1944– ) - Gillian SlovoGillian SlovoGillian Slovo is a South African born novelist, playwright and memoirist.Her novels were at first predominantly of the crime and thriller genres, including a series featuring the detective Kate Baeier but she has since written more literary fiction...
, (1952– ) - Adam SmallAdam Small (writer)Adam Small is a South African writer who was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement and other activism. He is noted as a "coloured" writer who wrote works in Afrikaans that dealt with racial discrimination and satirized the political situation...
, (1936– ) - Russell Smith, born South Africa, raised and lives in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, (1963– ) - Wilbur SmithWilbur SmithWilbur Addison Smith is a best-selling novelist. His writings include 16th and 17th century tales about the founding of the southern territories of Africa and the subsequent adventures and international intrigues relevant to these settlements. His books often fall into one of three series...
, (1932– ) - Sylvester SteinSylvester SteinSylvester Stein is a writer, publisher and athlete.Stein grew up in Durban, son of a mathematics professor. His sister and brother are both life scientists....
, (1920– ) - Jonny SteinbergJonny SteinbergJonny Steinberg is a South African writer and scholar. In the mid-1990s he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at Oxford University's Balliol college, from which he graduated with a doctorate in political theory. He returned to South Africa in 1998 and worked for the national daily...
, (1970– ) - Barry StreekBarry StreekBarry Streek was a South African political journalist and anti-apartheid activist.-Early life and education:Barry Streek was educated at Michaelhouse in Kwazulu-Natal after which he completed his national service in the South African Navy in 1966. At the time national service was mandatory for all...
, (1948–2006 ) - Mary Phillips, (1905– )
T-Z
- Can ThembaCan Themba-Overview:He was born in Marabastad, near Pretoria, but wrote most of his work in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa before it was destroyed under the provisions of the apartheid Group Areas Act....
, (1924–1969) - Miriam TlaliMiriam TlaliMiriam Tlali is a South African novelist. She was the first black woman in South Africa to publish a novel., Muriel at Metropolitan. She was also one of the first to write about Soweto....
, (1933– ) - J.R.R. Tolkien, born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (now South Africa); raised and lived in England (1892 - 1973)
- Benedict Vilakazi, (1906–1947)
- Lettie ViljoenLettie ViljoenLettie Viljoen was a pseudonym of the South African author Ingrid Winterbach, who primarily writes in Afrikaans. She is married to Andries Gouws and has two daughters. She lives in Durban....
, (1948– ) - A.G. VisserA.G. VisserAndries Gerhardus Visser was a well-known early Afrikaans poet.-Biography:Visser was born on the farm Zaaifontein in the Fraserburg district of South Africa. An intense drought drove his parents from their farm in Carnarvon and he was born in a tent in the farmyard, under the shadow of a pear tree...
, (1878 - 1929) - Ivan VladislavicIvan VladislavicIvan Vladislaviċ is a South African short story writer and novelist of Croatian origin. He lives in Johannesburg where he also works as an editor. In the eighties he worked as a fiction and social studies editor at Ravan Press...
, (1957– ) - John van de RuitJohn van de RuitJohn Howard van de Ruit is a South African novelist, actor, playwright and producer. He has been a professional actor, playwright and producer since 1998. He was born in Durban and educated at Michaelhouse, where he stayed in Founders House and from where he matriculated in 1993...
, (1975– ) - Etienne van HeerdenEtienne van Heerden-Biography:Van Heerden was born in 1954, six years after the official advent of apartheid. His mother was an English speaking mathematics teacher. His father, an Afrikaans speaking merino stud breeder, farmed the family farm in the Karoo...
, (1956– ) - Marlene van NiekerkMarlene van NiekerkMarlene van Niekerk is a South African author who is best known for her novel Triomf. Her graphic and controversial descriptions of a poor Afrikaner family in Johannesburg brought her to the forefront of a post-apartheid society, still struggling to come to terms with all the changes in South...
, (1954– ) - Charles van OnselenCharles van OnselenProfessor Charles van Onselen is a researcher and historian, based at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He resides in Johannesburg.He was formerly employed at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he headed the Institute of Advanced Social Research...
- Christopher van WykChristopher van WykChristopher van Wyk is a South African children’s book author, novelist and poet.Van Wyk was educated at Riverlea High School in Riverlea, Johannesburg, where he lived until 2005. He worked as a clerk for the independent South African Committee for Higher Education as an educational writer of...
, (1957– ) - F.A. VenterF.A. VenterFrancois Alwyn Venter was a prominent Afrikaans writer of the 20th century. His novels explored biblical religious themes, or cultural identities in the South African context. He also examined relations between white and black more closely in Wit oemfaan, which describes a white boy's discovery...
, (1916–1997) - Nicolaas VergunstNicolaas VergunstNicolaas Maartin Vergunst has been an artist, teacher, designer, curator and journalist. He is best known as the author of Knot of Stone: the day that changed South Africa’s history.- Biography :...
, (1958– ) - Gert Vlok NelGert Vlok NelGert Vlok Nel is a South African poet. He studied English, Afrikaans and history at Stellenbosch University and worked as a guide, a bartender and a watchman. He has published one collection of poems, Om te lewe is onnatuurlik , for which he received the Ingrid Jonker Prize...
, (1963– ) - Alf WannenburghAlf WannenburghAlf Wannenburgh is a South African writer and journalist.Alf Wannenburgh studied at the University of Cape Town. He worked as a land-surveyor's assistant, salesman, clerk and window-dresser. Associated with the Sophiatown Renaissance, Wannenburgh remained in South Africa in the early 1960s rather...
(1936– ) - Lyall WatsonLyall WatsonLyall Watson was a South African botanist, zoologist, biologist, anthropologist, ethologist, and author of many new age books, among the most popular of which is the best seller Supernature. Lyall Watson tried to make sense of natural and supernatural phenomena in biological terms...
, (1939–2008) - Mary WatsonMary Watson (author)Mary Watson is a South African author who won the Caine Prize in 2006 for her short story "Jungfrau". Watson is the author of Moss, a collection of short stories published in 2004....
- Stephen WatsonStephen WatsonStephen Watson was a South African poet.Most of his poetry is about the city of Cape Town, where he lived most of his life. He was a professor in English at the University of Cape Town...
, (1955– ) - Zoe WicombZoe WicombZoë Wicomb is an author.She attended the University of the Western Cape, and after graduating left South Africa for England in 1970, where she continued her studies at Reading University....
, (1948– ) - Rachel ZadokRachel ZadokRachel Zadok is a writer and a Whitbread First Novel Award nominee . She is a graduate of the Certificate in Novel Writing course, run by the Department of Education and Lifelong Learning at City University, London. Zadok was born in South Africa in 1972 to a South African mother and an Israeli...
, London-based, (1972– ) - Rose ZwiRose ZwiRose Zwi is a South African writer best known for her work about the immigrants in that country. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, to Jewish refugees from Lithuania, her family moved to South Africa when she was a young girl...
, born in MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, (1928– )
See also
- List of African writers by country
- Amstel Playwright of the Year AwardAmstel Playwright of the Year AwardThe Amstel Playwright of the Year Award, an independent non-governmental prize, was launched in South Africa in 1978. It recognised South African playwrights. The prize was awarded to many of South Africa's anti-apartheid playwrights....
- South African literature
- South African poetrySouth African poetryThe poetry of South Africa covers a broad range of themes, forms and styles. This article discusses the context that contemporary poets have come from and identifies the major poets of South Africa, their works and influence....
- List of poets
- List of South African poets