Marlene Van Niekerk in the UK for Man Booker International Prize Announcement

May 18, 2015 Hattie Grunewald

Marlene Van Niekerk is in the UK this week for the announcement of the Man Booker International Prize. Marlene is one of 10 writers selected as finalists for the £60,000 prize which recognises one writer for his or her achievement in fiction.

The judges describe Marlene as “the author of two immense masterpieces, TRIOMF and AGAAT, which chart in evocative, sometimes disturbing detail the aches and aggravations of political transition in South Africa for those who saw themselves as on the losing side, in particular impoverished Afrikaners. Van Niekerk’s vision is ambitious, uncompromising and irrefutable. The bold experimentalism of her Afrikaans takes the reader deep inside the contortions of the apartheid psyche and asks whether some historical hurts and hatreds can ever be entirely erased.” Read more on the Man Booker website.

The overall winner will be announced at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 19 May.

On 17 May, Marlene read at the Man Booker International Prize readings for Guardian Live, at The British Library from 13.30 – 16.00. The finalists spoke to the newspaper about their writing.

On 18 May, she will be appearing at Birkbeck University Arts Week in “Found in Translation: 2015 Man Booker International Prize”. The talk is at Keynes Library in London from 18.45 – 20.45. You can book tickets here.

Marlene Van Niekerk was awarded South Africa’s high honour, the Order of Ikhamanga, in 2011 for her “outstanding intellectual contribution to literary arts and culture field through poetry, literature and philosophical works”. Her debut novel TRIOMF (Little Brown, 1994) was a New York Times Notable Book, 2004, winner of C.N.A Literary Award, M-Net Prize and prestigious Noma Award for the Best Book in Africa. The film adaptation won the Best South African Film Award at Durban International Film Festival, 2008.

Her novel AGAAT received the following accolades in its Afrikaans and English editions:

- Shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, 2008.
- Winner of the South African Sunday Times Literary Prize 2007 and the Hertzog Prize 2007, SA.
- University of Johannesburg Prize, M-Net Award, W.A. Hofmeyr Award, all 2005.
- Shortlisted Booksellers' Choice Award South Africa 2005 and the M-Net Literary Prize 2007.
- #1 on Swedish Bestsellers List for five weeks in 2012.
- Chosen as Book of the Month by Good Housekeeping.
-Shortlisted for Three Percent's Best Translated Book Award, sponsored by Amazon.com, 2011.
- Longlisted for the Independent Booksellers Choice Award 2011
- Listed in Publisher Weekly’s Top 100 Best Books of 2010 and picked as one of Booklist Editor’s Choice List for 2010.

Marlene van Niekerk is also the author of the short story collections, DIE VROU WAT HAAR VERKYKER VERGEET HET and DIE SNEEUSLAPER and the novella MEMORANDUM, as well as the poetry collections SPROKKELSTER, GROENSTAAR and KAAR. You can read some of her poetry in English on Poetry International here.

Praise for AGAAT:

'I was immediately mesmerized by Ms. van Niekerk's novel. Its beauty matches its depth and her achievement is as brilliant as it is haunting.' -- Toni Morrison

'Van Niekerk follows the widely lauded TRIOMF with a dark, innovative epic that trudges through the depths of a South African farmwife's soul...Clearly an allegory for race relations in South Africa, the novel succeeds on numerous other grounds: a rich evocation of family dynamics; a chilling portrait of bodily and mental decay; and a successful experiment in combining diaries, the second-person, and stream of consciousness. Van Niekerk marshals it all to evoke the resigned mind of a dying woman who realizes, too late, the horrible mistakes that have made her life a waste.' -- Publishers Weekly starred review

'This novel stuns with its powerful sense of the rigors of farm life, desolation of a failing marriage, and comfort of a long and complex relationship.' -- Vanessa Bush, Booklist starred

Praise for TRIOMF:

‘A tempestuous, heartbreaking, exhilarating read.’ -- Elisabeth Vincentelli, Time Out New York

‘A distinguished new voice from South Africa writes about a white working class Afrikaner family with a shameful secret…A remarkably evocative portrayal of the usually ignored white underclass: the best post-apartheid novel yet.’ -- Kirkus

Marlene Van Niekerk shortlisted for Man Booker International Prize

April 7, 2015 Hattie Grunewald

Marlene Van Niekerk has been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. She is one of ten writers to be chosen for the £60,000 award which recognises one writer for his or her achievement in fiction. The authors come from ten different countries, and including Amitav Ghosh, Mia Couto, Ibrahim al-Koni and Fanny Howe. The overall winner will be announced at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on 19 May.

The Man Booker International Prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language. The judging panel consists of writer and academic, Professor Marina Warner (Chair); novelist Nadeem Aslam; novelist, critic and Professor of World Literature in English at Oxford University, Elleke Boehmer; Editorial Director of the New York Review Classics series, Edwin Frank, and Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at SOAS, University of London, Wen-chin Ouyang. The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel; there are no submissions from publishers. Lydia Davis won the prize in 2013, Philip Roth in 2011, Alice Munro in 2009, Chinua Achebe in 2007 and Ismail Kadaré won the inaugural prize in 2005. In addition, there is a separate award for translation and, if applicable, the winner may choose a translator of his or her work into English to receive a prize of £15,000.

Her novel AGAAT received the following accolades in its Afrikaans and English editions:

Praise for AGAAT:

'I was immediately mesmerized by Ms. van Niekerk's novel. Its beauty matches its depth and her achievement is as brilliant as it is haunting.' -- Toni Morrison

'This novel stuns with its powerful sense of the rigors of farm life, desolation of a failing marriage, and comfort of a long and complex relationship.' -- Vanessa Bush, Booklist starred

Praise for TRIOMF:

‘A tempestuous, heartbreaking, exhilarating read.’ -- Elisabeth Vincentelli, Time Out New York

Three BFLA authors among the Top 20 South African Books 1994-2014

March 12, 2014 Hattie Grunewald

Four books by Blake Friedmann authors have been picked by librarians as some of the Top 20 South African Books of the last twenty years. Zakes Mda has two books on the list, THE MADONNA OF EXCELSIOR and HEART OF REDNESS, and Deon Meyer’s THIRTEEN HOURS and Marlene Van Niekerk’s AGAAT were also both chosen.

The list was put together to celebrate 20 years of South African democracy. It also features South African classics such as Nelson Mandela’s A LONG WALK TO FREEDOM and DISGRACE by J M Coetzee. You can see the complete list here.

For more information on Zakes Mda, click here. You can also follow him on twitter.

For more information on Deon Meyer, click here. You can also follow him on twitter.

See Marlene's author page here.

AGAAT a Best Translated Book Award 2011 finalist!

March 28, 2013 Blake Friedmann

Marlene van Niekerk's widely acclaimed novel AGAAT is a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award, supported by Amazon.com in the US. The 10 fiction finalists include books translated from 6 different languages and can be viewed here. The awards ceremony will take place in New York City on 29 April, as part of the PEN World Voices Festival.

Marlene van Niekerk has received wide recognition for AGAAT since it was first published in South Africa by Tafelberg in Afrikaans in 2004, and in English by Tafelberg with Jonathan Ball in 2006. AGAAT was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2008 and won the South African Sunday Times Literary Award in 2005, and Heyns was awarded Outstanding Translation Award in 2009 as well as the Sol Plaatje Award for Translation in 2008. It was listed as a Best Book in 2010 by both Publisher's Weekly, and Booklist. AGAAT was brought out in the UK by Little Brown in 2007 under the title THE WAY OF THE WOMEN and Tin House published AGAAT under its original title in 2010. Rights have been sold to Gallimard in France, Neri Pozza in Italy, Querido in Holland, and Svante Weyler in Sweden. Film rights are sold to Mutz-Media.

Praise for AGAAT:

'I was immediately mesmerized by Ms. van Niekerk's novel. Its beauty matches its depth and her achievement is as brilliant as it is haunting.' -- Toni Morrison

'This novel stuns with its powerful sense of the rigors of farm life, desolation of a failing marriage, and comfort of a long and complex relationship.' -- Vanessa Bush, Booklist starred

BFLA clients Heyns and Lewin win SA's premier Fiction and NF prize!

June 22, 2012 Blake Friedmann

Blake Friedmann clients Michiel Heyns and Hugh Lewin won the fiction and non-fiction sections of the Sunday Times Literary Awards, among South Africa's most sought-after prizes.

Michiel Heyns won the Sunday Times Fiction Prize for LOST GROUND, having previously featured at the Sunday Times Awards in 2007, when he was recognised for his translation of Blake Friedmann client Marlene van Niekerk's acclaimed Afrikaans novel, AGAAT. LOST GROUND had recently also been awarded the Herman Charles Bosman Prize.

Hugh Lewin accepted the 24th Alan Paton prize for his book, STONES AGAINST THE MIRROR, which chronicles his journey to meet the former comrade who informed on him to the South African security police in 1964, resulting in Lewin's long jail sentence.

Prishani Naidoo, who chaired the Alan Paton judging panel, described Lewin's memoir: "It speaks in very moving ways to the truth of the character of experiences of friendship, politics and life in apartheid South Africa."

For more info click here.

Praise for STONES AGAINST THE MIRROR:

'A brave and moving memoir.' -- Tymon Smith, The Sunday Times

'Written with incredible grace and insight.' -- Ivan Vladislavic

'By writing this Hugh Lewin allows complete strangers to travel deep into his psyche and view his truest feelings and darkest thoughts. An interesting read that spotlights previously unknown knowledge to the historical events in South Africa.' --Lloyd Mackenzie, The Mercury

'Hugh Lewin's astounding new book titled STONES AGAINST THE MIRROR tells the most touching story of two intimate friends who decide to join the fight against apartheid in the 1960s. What the beautiful story of these two men demonstrates is that it is still possible to find forgiveness, healing and reconciliation before it's too late . . . This is by far the best book written and published in 2011, and I would be very surprised if it did not win the Alan Paton award for non-fiction in 2012.' -- Jonathan Jansen, The Times

'Hugh Lewin weaves a powerful tale, showing a master craftsman at work... a deeply moving memoir' -- Nalini Naidoo, The Witness

'This is the book that was waiting to be written. There have been many accounts of life in the active struggle against the apartheid regime but this one is a fearless exploration into the deepest ground - the personal moral ambiguity of betrayal under brutal interrogation-actual betrayal of the writer by most trusted associate and closest friend; and the lifetime question of whether one would have betrayed that same friend under such circumstances, oneself. Hugh Lewin is the man to have faced this with the courage of a fine writer. Unforgettable, invaluable in facing now the ambiguities of our present and future' -- Nadine Gordimer

'Lewin's STONE AGAINST THE MIRROR is a must read.' -- Isaac Ndlovu, LiNet

Praise for LOST GROUND:
Winner of Herman Charles Bosman Prize 2012

'LOST GROUND is so much more than just great storytelling. It is Heyns's mastery of language, his wonderful sense of place, and deftly drawn characters that make this book superlative. I loved it.' -- Deon Meyer

'A remarkable combination of erudite and accessible. ... it will delight a very wide range of readers.' -- Maya Fowler, book.co.za.

'The short review of this book is simply this: it's remarkable,...It's hard to know how Michiel Heyns does it -- part magician, part juggler and fine linguist, he presents a novel that is as mysteriously alluring, yet as simple as the photo of some dorp street on the cover.' -- Jane Rosenthal, Mail & Guardian

'LOST GROUND is the novel Michiel Heyns was always going to write: one that brings together all his many talents -a highly pedigreed writing style…, brilliantly witty satire, a nuanced and convincing rendering of place, people and time, a gay counter-narrative, and the type of dialogue that only a committed eavesdropper can produce. It is, in short, the best of THE CHILDREN'S DAY combined with the best of THE RELUCTANT PASSENGER, THE TYPEWRITER'S TALE and BODIES POLITIC…. Without obviously "ticking boxes", Heyns knows just how to characterise contemporary South Africa. Whether you read it as a whodunit or as a portrait of the nation, LOST GROUND is utterly compelling - exquisitely written, profound, hilarious and hauntingly familiar.' -- Finuala Dowling, slipnet.co.za

'LOST GROUND grows lush out of the simplest elements of outstanding story-making. Believable story facts, entertaining dialogue, gentle tension that builds gradually, an acute sense of time, place and character, and humour, enliven this South African dorp story. Deceptively packaged as a crime novel, but landing explosively in the heart as only literature can, Heyns's wonderful book has a reach wide enough to hold even the fussiest and most easily bored of readers.' -- Karin Schimke, The Star