Afrikaans is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and people enslaved by them. Afrikaans gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics during the course of the 18th century. Now spoken in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, estimates c. 2010 of the total number of Afrikaans speakers range between 15 and 23 million. Most linguists consider Afrikaans to be a partly creole language.
Coloureds refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South Africa's Coloured people are regarded as having some of the most diverse genetic backgrounds. Because of the vast combination of genetics, different families and individuals within a family may have a variety of different physical features.
Steve Hofmeyr is a South African singer, songwriter, writer, actor and former TV presenter.
District Six is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime.
Dalene Matthee was a South African author best known for her four "Forest Novels", written in and around the Knysna Forest. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew and Icelandic, and over a million copies have been sold worldwide.
The "!Oroǀõas" ("Ward-girl"), spelled in Dutch as Krotoa, otherwise known by her Christian name Eva, was a !Uriǁ'aeǀona translator who worked for the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) during the founding of the Cape Colony.
South African literature is the literature of South Africa, which has 11 national languages: Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, Tswana, Venda, Swazi, Tsonga and Ndebele.
Afrikaans literature is literature written in Afrikaans. Afrikaans is the daughter language of 17th-century Dutch and is spoken by the majority of people in the Western Cape of South Africa and among Afrikaners and Coloured South Africans in other parts of South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini. Afrikaans was historically one of the two official languages of South Africa, the other being English, but it currently shares the status of an "official language" with ten other languages.
Skin is a 2008 biographical drama film directed by Anthony Fabian. It is based on the book When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race by Judith Stone, and the life of Sandra Laing, a South African woman born to white parents, who was classified as "Coloured" during the apartheid era, presumably due to a genetic case of atavism.
Dricky Beukes was a South African 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 died in 1999 in Bellville after a battle with blood cancer. There is a Dricky Beukes Street named after her in Kokrus, Vereeniging.
Maria Elizabeth Rothmann, penname M.E.R. 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.
The ATKV-Prosaprys is a literary award awarded annually by the ATKV to an Afrikaans writer for a work of prose published during the previous calendar year. The prize was first awarded in 1984 to Dalene Matthee for her book Kringe in ’n bos.
S. V. Petersen (1914–1987) was an Afrikaans-language South African poet and author, educator and founding principal of the Athlone High School, Silvertown [Athlone]], Cape Town. He was the first person of colour whose poetry and prose were published in South Africa.
Circles in a Forest is a novel by Dalene Matthee, originally written and published in Afrikaans as Kringe in 'n Bos in 1984. It is the first book in her series of four "forest novels", set in the Knysna forest. The other three "forest novels" are Fiela se Kind published in 1985, Moerbeibos published in 1987 and Toorbos published in 2003. Circles in a Forest became a best-seller and has been translated into English, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Icelandic, Spanish, Hebrew, German, Swedish, Italian, Finnish and Norwegian. The novel is a coming-of-age story about an Afrikaans woodcutter named Saul Barnard, set in and around the South African town of Knysna in the nineteenth century, focusing on the impact of a gold rush on the Outeniqua forest, its Afrikaans and Khoekhoe residents and the Knysna elephants.
Harold (Harry) Kalmer was a South African novelist, essayist and playwright both in English and his home language Afrikaans.
Wayne Van Rooyen, is a South African actor and voice artist. He is best known for the roles in the films Fiela se Kind, Mayfair and Seriously Single.
Toorbos is a 2019 South African drama film directed by Rene van Rooyen about a young woman confronting a conflict between her ideals and those of her husband.
Gretchen Ramsden is a South African actress. She is best known for her roles in Arendsvlei and Afgrond.
Zenobia Kloppers is a Namibian actress, soprano, and writer. Based in South Africa, she starred in the titular role in the film Fiela se Kind. On television, she appeared in Amaza, Suidooster, and Arendsvlei.
