Christopher van Wyk
Encyclopedia
Christopher 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 (SACHED) as an educational writer of accessible literature for new readers. He was also editor of Staffrider
from 1981 to 1986 and in 1980 started the short-lived Wietie magazine with Fhazel Johennesse.
During the literary explosion among black writers that followed the Soweto
uprising in 1976 van Wyk published a volume of poetry, It Is Time to Go Home (1979), that won the 1980 Olive Schreiner Prize. The book is characterized by the preoccupations of other Soweto poets such as Mongane Serote, Sipho Sepamla
, and Mafika Gwala
and employs the language of defiance and assertion in poetry that reveals at all times the Black Consciousness of the era. In 1981 he received the Maskew Miller Longman Award for black children's literature for A Message in the Wind (1982), the story of two boys who travel in their homemade time machine to their shared tribal past of 1679. Other children's stories include Peppy 'n Them (1991) and Petroleum and the Orphaned Ostrich (1988). He has written books for neo-literate adults, such as The Murder of Mrs. Mohapi (1995), My Cousin Thabo (1995), Take a Chance (1995), My Name is Selina Mabiletsa (1996), and Sergeant Dlamini Falls in Love (1996), biographies of Sol Plaatje
and Oliver Tambo
for teenagers, and adaptations of works by Bessie Head, Sol Plaatje, and Can Themba
. He won the 1996 Sanlam Literary Award for his short story 'Relatives', published in Crossing Over (1995). The Year of the Tapeworm (1996) is an adult novel and warns of government control of the media. His latest work is a novel called "Shirley Goodness And Mercy" which is about different anecdotes from his childhood, this novel was published by Picador Africa.
Van Wyk was educated at Riverlea High School in Riverlea, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, where he lived until 2005. He worked as a clerk for the independent South African Committee for Higher Education (SACHED) as an educational writer of accessible literature for new readers. He was also editor of Staffrider
Staffrider
Staffrider was a South African literary magazine.Staffrider was first published in 1977, and took its name from slang for people hanging outside or on the roof of overcrowded, racially segregated trains....
from 1981 to 1986 and in 1980 started the short-lived Wietie magazine with Fhazel Johennesse.
During the literary explosion among black writers that followed the Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
uprising in 1976 van Wyk published a volume of poetry, It Is Time to Go Home (1979), that won the 1980 Olive Schreiner Prize. The book is characterized by the preoccupations of other Soweto poets such as Mongane Serote, Sipho Sepamla
Sipho Sepamla
Sydney 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...
, and Mafika Gwala
Mafika Gwala
Mafika 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...
and employs the language of defiance and assertion in poetry that reveals at all times the Black Consciousness of the era. In 1981 he received the Maskew Miller Longman Award for black children's literature for A Message in the Wind (1982), the story of two boys who travel in their homemade time machine to their shared tribal past of 1679. Other children's stories include Peppy 'n Them (1991) and Petroleum and the Orphaned Ostrich (1988). He has written books for neo-literate adults, such as The Murder of Mrs. Mohapi (1995), My Cousin Thabo (1995), Take a Chance (1995), My Name is Selina Mabiletsa (1996), and Sergeant Dlamini Falls in Love (1996), biographies of Sol Plaatje
Sol Plaatje
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator, and writer. The Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, which includes the city of Kimberley, was named after him.-Early life:...
and Oliver Tambo
Oliver Tambo
Oliver Reginald Tambo was a South African anti-apartheid politician and a central figure in the African National Congress .-Biography:Oliver Tambo was born in Bizana in eastern Pondoland in what is now Eastern Cape...
for teenagers, and adaptations of works by Bessie Head, Sol Plaatje, and Can Themba
Can 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....
. He won the 1996 Sanlam Literary Award for his short story 'Relatives', published in Crossing Over (1995). The Year of the Tapeworm (1996) is an adult novel and warns of government control of the media. His latest work is a novel called "Shirley Goodness And Mercy" which is about different anecdotes from his childhood, this novel was published by Picador Africa.