Marita van der Vyver

Last updated

Marita van der Vyver
Born1958 (age 6465)
NationalitySouth African
Education Stellenbosch University
OccupationNovelist & Writer
SpouseAlain Claisse
Children3 sons, 1 daughter
Website maritavandervyver.info

Marita van der Vyver (born 6 May 1958) is an Afrikaans author who has written several books for both adult and youth audiences. Since 1999, she has been living in France with her husband and four children. [1] Van der Vyver wrote a collection of humorous essays detailing life in the countryside of France, titled Die hart van ons huis in 2004, after which her first volume of short stories, Bestemmings was released, together with an English counterpart.

Contents

Biography

She was born in Cape Town in 1958 and grew up in Bellville, Menlo Park and got her early education from Hoërskool Nelspruit. In 1975, in a national Afrikaans poetry competition for matric pupils, she won a study bursary for four years at the university of her choice. She chose Stellenbosch University, where she participated in D.J. Opperman's poetry workshops and was awarded a BA degree, majoring in Afrikaans and French, in 1978. The following year, she acquired an honours degree in journalism. She completed a master's degree in journalism several years later. After returning to South Africa after a year of travelling in Europe, van der Vyver worked as a reporter for Die Burger , as a copywriter for Leserskring (a book club) and a feature writer for Sarie . [2]

Works

She published three youth novels, Van Jou Jas (1982), Tien vir 'n Vriend (1987) and Eenkantkind (1991) before releasing her first novel for adults, Griet skryf 'n Sprokie in 1992, which won the ATKV, M-Net and Eugène Marais prize. It was translated into English, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Chinese and Hebrew. In 1994, Dinge van 'n Kind, another youth novel, was published before she released her first book for young children, Olinosters op die Dak in 1997. [3]

Another adult novel, Wegkomkans was published in 1999, followed by Griet Kom Weer in 2001. Her youth novel Die Ongelooflike Avonture van Hanna Hoekom won the Sanlam Prize for Youth Fiction in 2002 and was made into a film in 2010.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Eybers</span> South African poet

Elisabeth Françoise Eybers was a South African poet. Her poetry was mainly in Afrikaans, although she translated some of her own work into English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Hambidge</span> Afrikaans poet, literary theorist and academic

Joan Helene Hambidge, is an Afrikaans poet, literary theorist and academic. She is a prolific poet in Afrikaans, controversial as a public figure and critic and notorious for her out-of-the-closet style of writing. Her theoretic contributions deal mainly with Roland Barthes, deconstruction, postmodernism, psychoanalysis and metaphysics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antjie Krog</span> South African poet, philosopher, academic, and writer (born 1952)

Antjie Krog is a South African writer and academic, best known for her Afrikaans poetry, her reporting on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and her 1998 book Country of My Skull. In 2004, she joined the Arts faculty of the University of the Western Cape as Extraordinary Professor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlene van Niekerk</span> South African poet, writer, and academic

Marlene van Niekerk is a South African poet, writer, and academic. She is best known for her novels, the satirical tragicomedy Triomf (1994) and the Hertzog-winning Agaat (2004), which explore themes including the family, the change in power dynamics occasioned by the end of Apartheid, and inequalities of race, gender, and class. Van Niekerk is also an award-winning poet. She writes in her native tongue, Afrikaans, and teaches at Stellenbosch University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African literature</span> Literature of South Africa

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.

Marita Conlon-McKenna is an Irish author of children's books and adult fiction. She is best known for her Famine-era historical children's book Under the Hawthorn Tree, the first book of the Children of the Famine trilogy, which was published in 1990 and achieved immediate success. Praised for its child-accessible yet honest depiction of the Great Famine, Under the Hawthorn Tree has been translated into over a dozen languages and is taught in classrooms worldwide. Conlon-McKenna went on to be a prolific writer and has published over 20 books for both young readers and adults. Her debut adult novel Magdalen was published in 1999.

<i>Girl with a Pearl Earring</i> (novel) 1999 novel by Tracy Chevalier

Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 1999 historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier. Set in 17th-century Delft, Holland, the novel was inspired by local painter Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Chevalier presents a fictional account of Vermeer, the model and the painting. The novel was adapted into a 2003 film of the same name and a 2008 play. In May 2020, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a new dramatisation of the novel.

Anoeschka von Meck is a Namibian author who writes in the Afrikaans language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Rutgers van der Loeff</span> Dutch writer

Anna ("An") Rutgers van der Loeff-Basenau (1910–1990) was a Dutch writer of children's novels.

Albertha 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. Late in life she published a novel for adults, Die afdraand van die dag is kil, about two women in old age.

Christian Johan Barnard, known as Chris Barnard, was a South African author and movie scriptwriter. He was known for writing Afrikaans novels, novellas, columns, youth novels, short stories, plays, radio dramas, film scripts and television dramas.

Daniel Sleigh is a South African novelist who writes in Afrikaans. He was born on the farm Geelbeksfontein on the West Coast on 3 November 1938. He matriculated at Vredenburg High School and then joined the South African Navy. Until 1962, he studied at the Paarl Training College to become a Physical Education teacher, after which he taught in Namibia and Cape Town.

Anna M. Louw was a South African author. She was born in Calvinia in a so-called "Nagmaalhuis". Her father was a sheep farmer near Calvinia on the farm Soetwater and her mother was a teacher on a farm school in the district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sólrún Michelsen</span> Faroese writer and poet

Sólrún Michelsen, grew up in Argir and is a Faroese writer and poet. She received the Barnamentanarheiðursløn Tórshavnar býráðs in 2002 and the Faroese Literature Prize in 2008. In 2004 she was nominated for the West Nordic Council's Children and Youth Literature Prize for the poem collection Loppugras. In 2015 she was nominated for the Nordic Literature Prize for the novel Hinumegin er mars.

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.

Wilna Adriaanse is a South African Afrikaans romantic fiction writer. Her first book, Die wingerd sal weer bot, was published in 2000 under the name Wilmine Burger. Her book, 'n Heildronk op liefde, won the 2003 Lapa Publishers’ Prize for Romance and in 2009 she was awarded the ATKV-Woordveertjie prize for her novel, Die boek van Ester.

The Eugène Marais Prize is a South African literary prize awarded by the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns for a first or early publication in Afrikaans. In 1971 it was renamed after the Afrikaans poet and researcher Eugène Marais. The prize has no genre limitation, but only works that have appeared in the previous calendar year are eligible. Further, an author can only win the award once. The prize money was R22 000 and was sponsored by ABSA and Rapport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Kalmer</span> South African novelist, essayist, and playwright (1956–2019)

Harold (Harry) Kalmer was a South African novelist, essayist and playwright both in English and his home language Afrikaans.

Christine Barkhuizen le Roux was a South African Afrikaans writer of poems, novels and short stories. A Bachelor of Arts English, Psychology and Theology graduate of Stellenbosch University, she made her debut as a writer in 2000. Several of Le Roux's her works have been included in Dutch publications as well as in Afrikaans anthologies and some were featured in published magazines and books.

References

  1. "Biography". maritavandervyver.info. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. Rosemarie Breuer. "Marita van der Vyver". stellenboschwriters.com. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  3. "Books". maritavandervyver.info. Retrieved 6 April 2014.