Biography

Marlene van Niekerk was born in 1954 in Western Cape, South Africa. Her first poetry volume, Sprokkelster (1977), won the Eugène Marais Prize and the Ingrid Jonker Prize. Her other poetry collection, Kaar, won three national prizes: The Herzog prize, the Elisabeth Eybers Prize and the University of Johannesburg prize. Poet, novelist, critic and short story writer, she is known to examine post-apartheid South African society in her work. In 2011, she was awarded South Africa’s high honour, the Order of Ikhamanga, for her “outstanding intellectual contribution to literary arts and culture field through poetry, literature and philosophical works.” She is a Professor of Afrikaans and Dutch literature and Creative Writing at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.