Archie Crail | |
---|---|
Born | 1948 Paarl, South Africa |
Occupation | journalist, short story writer, playwright |
Nationality | South African-Canadian |
Period | 1990s |
Notable works | The Bonus Deal |
Archie Crail (born 1944 in Paarl, South Africa) [1] is a South African-Canadian writer. He was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 1992 Governor General's Awards for his short story collection The Bonus Deal. [2]
A coloured South African of Khoisan descent, [3] Crail was born and raised in Paarl. [1] Educated at the University of South Africa, [4] he was an anti-apartheid activist with the African National Congress, [1] and studied theology under Desmond Tutu. [5] He later spent several years living in South-West Africa, continuing his political activism with SWAPO, [5] and briefly moved to Botswana [1] before moving to Canada in 1980. [3]
Crail and his family settled in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1980. [4] Crail took classes at the University of Regina, [4] including studying creative writing under Ven Begamudré. [5]
His first work, a theatrical play titled Exile, won the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild literary competition in 1989 [6] and was produced by Saskatoon's 25th Street Theatre in 1990. [7] A touring production of Exile was later mounted in South Africa. [4]
The Bonus Deal was published by Coteau Books in 1992. [8] Several of the short stories in The Bonus Deal were also dramatized for CBC Radio. [4]
In 1991, after the South African government lifted its ban on exiled African National Congress members returning to South Africa, Crail attended the organization's conference in Durban. [4]