Chris Abani was born in Nigeria. At the age of sixteen he published his first novel, for which he suffered severe political persecution. He went into exile in 1991, and has since lived in England and the United States. His last book, 'Daphne's Lot', is a collection of poetry for which he won a 2003 Lannan Literary Fellowship. He is also the recipient of the PEN USA West Freedom to Write Award and the Prince Claus Award.
Biko, Steve
Steve Biko was born in Tylden, Eastern Cape, South Africa in 1946. As a
medical student in 1969, he founded a black student organisation and
created a national 'black consciousness' movement.
The movement's aim was to combat racism and the South African apartheid
government. In 1973 he was prohibited by the government from speaking in public, writing for publication and travelling.
Biko was arrested by police in September 1977. Naked and manacled, he died in detention, from extensive brain damage, six days later. He left a widow
and two young children.
His death caused international protests and a UN arms embargo. Biko became
a symbol of the anti-apartheid movement. An inquest in the late 1980s
found no one responsible for his death, but in 1997 five former policemen
admitted being involved.
Bloom, Kevin
Kevin Bloom is an award-winning South African journalist who has written for many of the country's mainstream publications. He has been editor-at-large of Maverick magazine, co-editor of Empire magazine and founding editor of The Media magazine. Kevin has just completed Ways of Staying, his first book, as a Writing Fellow at the Wits Institute of Social and Economic Research (WISER) in Johannesburg. Kevin is a journalist and writer who has explores our strange and troubled land through his writing, bringing us closer to an understanding of what it means to live in South Africa.
Cohen, David
David Cohen was born in England and raised in Johannesburg. He is an
award-winning author and journalist, and his first book, "Chasing the Red,
White, and Blue", won the South African Jenny Crwys-Williams Prize for Book
of the Year in 2002. He has written for the Guardian, the Independent and
the New York Times, and is currently senior feature writer on the London
Evening Standard. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.
DeSoto, Lewis
Lewis DeSoto was born in South Africa and emigrated with his family to Canada in the 1960s, where he attended UBC and was awarded a Masters degree in Fine Art. He has exhibited paintings in public and private galleries across Canada. Desoto’s short stories and essays have been published in numerous journals and he was awarded the Writers Union Short Prose Award. The former editor of the Literary Review of Canada, DeSoto is married to the artist Gunilla Josephson and divides his time between Toronto and Normandy.
Essop, Ahmed
Ahmed Essop was born in India in 1931 and emigrated to South Africa as a
child. He was educated at the Johannesburg Indian High School and at the
University of South Africa where he graduated with a BA degree in 1956 and
later an Honours degree in English. He taught at various schools in
Johannesburg.
During the 1970s Essop opposed the authoritarian Apartheid education
system. After being subjected to a succession of punitive transfers, he
took the Indian education department to court, but was unsuccessful. He
resumed teaching in 1980 under a different education department. In 1986
he left the teaching profession to devote himself to full-time writing.
Essop has written a variety of story collections and novels. His short
story collection, 'The Hajji', was awarded the Olive Schreiner Prize by the
English Academy of Southern Africa.
Fugard, Lisa
Lisa Fugard, daughter of the celebrated playwright Athol Fugard, was born in 1961. She has written several pieces for The New York Times and contributed to 'Getting Here From There: Selected Shorts, a Celebration of the Short Story'. She is well-known for her short story, 'Night Calls', about a young girl and her father who help each other mourn the mother's death through their concern for a mysterious red-crested heron. In 1997 she won the Robie Macauley Fellowship for short fiction. Lisa has also has written poetry: 'Addo', which appeared in the Journal of African Travel-Writing, is about love and betrayal in elephant country. She frequently partakes in readings of her own and others' work. She is also an actress and took the lead role in the stage rendering of 'Lyssie', and has acted in various of her father's plays, such as 'My Children! My Africa!' She lives in America.
Fuller, Alexandra
Alexandra Fuller was born in England in 1969 and in 1972 she moved with her family to a farm in Zimbabwe (what was then Rhodesia). After that country's civil war in 1981, the Fullers moved first to Malawi, then to Zambia. Fuller now lives in Wyoming and has two children.
Godwin, Peter
Peter Godwin is an award-winning Zimbabwean journalist and writer. He was a foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times in London and has served as chief correspondent for BBC TV. He currently writes full time. Peter was awarded the Esquire/Apple/Waterstone's Non-Fiction Award in 1996 for his memoir, 'Mukiwa - A White Boy in Africa'. He currently lives in London.
Herbstein, Manu
Manu Herbstein was born and educated in South Africa. He has lived and worked in England, Nigeria, India, Zambia and Scotland, and now lives in Ghana. Herbstein first visited the slave castle at Elmina, Ghana, which features in this novel, in 1961. He has returned many times since and says that the experience never fails to move him. Civil disturbances in rural northern Ghana sparked the writing of this novel. Seeking to understand the 1994 'Guinea Fowl War,' he learned that one of the causes might have been the deeply buried collective memory of events in the late eighteenth century. This led to speculation about what it was to have been a slave. His novel is an exploration of the human side of the Transatlantic Holocaust.
Isegawa, Moses
Moses Isegawa was born in Uganda in 1963. He studied at a catholic seminary and taught history in a secondary school. He moved to the Netherlands in 1990 and is now a Dutch citizen. He has written two novels, 'Abyssinian Chronicles' (1988) and 'Snakepit' (2004).
Kaplan, Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan was born in South Africa. He studied medicine in Cape Town before travelling to the United Kingdom and the USA to acquire specialist qualifications. He left the secure career of hospital surgery to travel the world as a doctor, journalist and documentary film-maker. 'Contact Wounds' is his second book following his award-winning debut, 'The Dressing Station'.
Kuzwayo, Ellen
Ellen Kuzwayo grew up in the countryside, but has lived most of her life in the city. She has been a 'disgruntled schoolteacher', social worker, mother, wife, and in her sixties returned to study at the University of the Witwatersrand for a higher qualification in social work. She was active in the community life of Soweto for many years and was president of the Black Consumer Union of South Africa, and of the Maggie Magaba Trust. She was chosen Woman of the Year in 1979 by the Johannesburg newspaper, The Star, and was nominated again in 1984. Ellen was the first black writer to be awarded the C N A literary prize for 'Call Me Woman'. In 1996 she published a collection, 'Sit Down and Listen: Stories from South Africa'. After 1994 Ellen was elected as a Member of Parliament and although now retired is still considered an institution within the community.
Mabuza, HE Lindiwe
HE Dr Lindiwe Mabuza is an experienced diplomat and politician who is currently the SA High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. She is a widely respected poet, and has had five volumes of poetry published around the world.
Madondo, Bongani
Bongani Madondo is an award-winning profile writer, music and social critic, as well as urban tales chronicler.An obsessive star-tracker, he has interviewed, toured with, stalked and written on the art and follies of a varied cast of local, continental and international artists, thugs, celebrities, royalty and pop figures such as Miriam Makeba, Nathaniel, Brenda Fassie, Bouga Luv, Rita Marley, the last Queen Modjaji, Naomi Campbell, Boom Shaka, Naughty by Nature, John Legend, Freshlyground and Will Smith, amongst others. His work has appeared in publications such as Mail & Guardian, City Press, SundayWorld, Marie Claire, and he is presently a features writer for the Sunday Times Lifestyle section. Madondo stays in, writes from, and walks the streets of Johannesburg for inspiration.
Medalie, David
David Medalie is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Pretoria. His publications include a study of E. M. Forster and a collection of short stories entitled The Shooting of the Christmas Cows. He has also edited an anthology of South African short stories. The Shadow Follows is his first novel. He lives in Johannesburg.
Mphahlele, Es'kia
Es'kia Mphahlele was born in 1919. He qualified as a teacher at Adam's
College in Natal, and from 1945 - 1952 taught at Orlando High School. He
later joined the staff of Drum magazine. Meanwhile, he continued to study
part-time and in 1956 was awarded his master's degree by the University of
South Africa.
In 1957 he left South Africa and remainded in exile until 1977. He
lived in Nigeria, Paris and the USA and lectured at various universities as
well as serving as director of the Congress of Cultural Freedom in Paris.
He received a Ph.D. at the University of Denver. After returning to South
Africa, Mphahlele joined the University of the Witwatersrand as professor
of African Literature. He retired in 1987.
Mphahlele was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature for his novel,
'The Wanderers' (1968).
Richards, Jo-Anne
Jo-Anne Richards is an internationally acclaimed author of three novels and five collections of short stories. She has worked as a journalist for a number of local andinternational publications, and now lectures journalism to Honours students at the University of Witwatersrand.
Serote, Mongane Wally
Mongane Wally Serote was born in Sophiatown on 8 May 1944. He received his early education in Alexandra Township, and later attended Morris Isaacson High School.
In 1974, after a succession of different jobs, he left South Africa on a Fulbright scholarship, which enabled him to study for a Master of Fine Arts at Columbia University in New York.
In 1977 he settled in Gaborone, Botswana, where he rejoined the ANC underground and MK.
After holding a variety of positions in the ANC, he returned to South Africa in 1990 and was appointed Head of the Department of Arts and Culture of the ANC in Johannesburg. He holds honorary doctorates from the universities of Natal and Transkei. Until recently he was a Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Portfolio Committee for Arts, Culture, Language, Science and Technology. He is now CEO of the Freedom Park Trust, which is responsible for erecting the Freedom Park Memorial. Its vision is 'to be a leading national and international icon for humanity and freedom'.
The Freedom Park is to be in Pretoria.
Tobias, Professor Philip
Professor Philip Tobias was born in Durban, South Africa in 1925. He is one of South Africa's most internationally renowned scientists. He is considered one of the world's leading palaeontologists and is currently Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Human Biology at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School and Director of the Sterkfontein Research Unit.
van Wyk, Chris
Chris van Wyk was born in Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, in 1957. He was educated at Riverlea High School in Riverlea, Johannesburg, where he still lives and works as a full-time writer.
He writes poetry (his poems have been published in Denmark, Sweden, France, Turkey, the UK, the USA and Canada), books for children and teenagers, short stories and novels.
In 1979 he won the Olive Schreiner Award for his collection of poems, 'It Is Time to Go Home'.
In 1997 he was awarded the Sanlam Prize for the best South African short story (called 'Magic') of the previous year.
His novel, 'The Year of the Tapeworm', was published in 1996.
In 2003 he published a series of biographies for children and young teens. Under the series title Freedom Fighters, the ten biographies include Nelson Mandela, Helen Joseph, Desmond Tutu, Thabo Mbeki and Steve Biko. These books are used extensively in schools.
Zadok, Rachel
Rachel Zadok grew up in Johannesburg. She studied Fine Art and worked as a freelance graphic designer and then a waitress while pursuing a career as a writer. She lives in South London.
