Archie Crail (born 1944 in

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

)"Can't feel safe, even in Saskatchewan". ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bor ...

'', February 3, 1995. is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

writer. He was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the

1992 Governor General's Awards Each winner of the 1992 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received Canadian dollar, C$10,000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council, Canada Cou ...

for his short story collection ''The Bonus Deal''.

Background

coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

South African of

Khoisan Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...

descent,"The essence of politics; Relocated in Regina, South African writer explores his roots". ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', June 21, 1992. Crail was born and raised in

. Educated at the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

,Heather Hodgson, ''Saskatchewan Writers: Lives Past and Present''. University of Regina Press, 2004. . p. 63. he was an anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist with the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

, and studied theology under

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

."A spinner of complex but sturdy prose". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', November 28, 1992. He later spent several years living in South-West Africa, continuing his political activism with

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

, and briefly moved to

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

before moving to Canada in 1980. Crail and his family settled in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

in 1980. Crail took classes at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

, including studying creative writing under Ven Begamudré.

Writing

His first work, a theatrical play titled ''Exile'', won the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild literary competition in 1989 and was produced by

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

's 25th Street Theatre in 1990. A touring production of ''Exile'' was later mounted in South Africa. ''The Bonus Deal'' was published by Coteau Books in 1992. Claire Rothman, "South African emigre shows lives at breaking point". '' The Gazette'', December 5, 1992. Several of the short stories in ''The Bonus Deal'' were also dramatized for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

. In 1991, after the South African government lifted its ban on exiled African National Congress members returning to South Africa, Crail attended the organization's conference in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Works

*''Exile'' (1990) *''The Bonus Deal'' (1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crail, Archie Living people 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male short story writers Canadian radio writers Canadian male journalists Black Canadian short story writers Journalists from Saskatchewan South African male short story writers South African short story writers South African journalists South African dramatists and playwrights Coloureds South African emigrants to Canada People from Paarl Writers from Regina, Saskatchewan South African anti-apartheid activists University of South Africa alumni Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 1944 births 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian Film Centre alumni