Beverley Naidoo is a South African author of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

who lives in the UK. Her first three novels featured life in

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 ...

where she lived until her twenties. She has also written a biography of the trade unionist Neil Aggett. '' The Other Side of Truth'', published by Puffin in 2000, is a story about Nigerian political refugees in England. For that work she won the annual Carnegie Medal from the

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, recognising the year's best children's book by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

. Naidoo won the Josette Frank Award twice – in 1986 for ''Journey to Jo'burg'' and in 1997 for ''No Turning Back: A Novel of South Africa''.

Biography

Beverley Naidoo was born on 21 May 1943 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. She grew up under apartheid laws that gave privilege to white children. Black children were sent to separate, inferior schools and their families were told where they could live, work and travel. Apartheid denied all children the right to grow up together with equality, justice and respect. She graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in 1963. As a student, Naidoo began to worked as Adviser for Cultural Diversity and English in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. She has tutored Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and run workshops for young people and adults in Britain and abroad, including for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

. She married another South African exile. Apartheid laws forbade marriage between white and black people and barred them living together with their children in South Africa. As a child Naidoo always loved stories but only started writing when her own children were growing up. Her first book, ''Journey to Jo'burg'', won The Other Award in Britain. It opened a window onto children's struggles under apartheid. In South Africa it was banned until 1991, the year after

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

was released from jail. A few years later, when the parents of all South African children had the right to vote for the first time, Nelson Mandela was elected president. Naidoo was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 2023.

Books

''Journey to Jo'burg'', ''Chain of Fire'' and ''Out of Bounds'' are set in

South Africa under 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 ...

, while ''No Turning Back'' concerns the experiences of a boy trying to survive on the streets of

in the immediate post-apartheid years. '' The Other Side of Truth'' and its sequel, ''Web of Lies'', deal with the experiences of the children of an outspoken Nigerian writer as they seek political asylum in England. Her 2007 novel ''Burn My Heart'' has an imagined point of reference in the boyhood in Kenya of a second cousin, Neil Aggett, being set in the 1950s during the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...

. Naidoo has also written several picture books, featuring children from Botswana and England. In 2004, she wrote the picture book ''Papa's Gift'', set in contemporary South Africa, with her daughter, Maya Naidoo.''Baba's Gift''
. Beverley Naidoo: Author. In ''The Great Tug of War and Other Stories'' she retells African folktales, the precursors of the Brer Rabbit tales.

Works

*''Journey to Jo'burg'' (1985) *''Chain of Fire'' (1989), sequel to ''Journey to Jo'burg'' *''Through Whose Eye? Exploring Racism: reader, text and context'' (1992), nonfiction *''No Turning Back'' (1995) *'' The Other Side of Truth'' (2000) *''The Great Tug of War and other stories'' (2001), retellings *''Out of Bounds: Stories of Conflict and Hope'' (2003) *''Web of Lies'' (2004), sequel to ''The Other Side of Truth'' *''Making It Home: Real-life Stories from Children Forced to Flee'' (with Kate Holt) *''Burn My Heart'' (2007) *''Call of the Deep'' (2008), retellings *''Death of an Idealist'' (2012) ;Picture books *''Letang and Julie Save the Day'' (1994) *''Letang's New Friend'' (1994) *''Trouble for Letang and Julie'' (1994) *''Where Is Zami?'' (1998) *''King Lion in Love'' (2004) *''Baba's Gift'' (2004), by Beverley and Maya Naidoo *''S Is for South Africa'' *''Aesop's Fables'', a retelling with illustrations by Piet Grobler ;Featured in *
New South African Plays
' (2006)

References

External links

*
Writers: Beverley Naidoo
at British Council Literature
Resources on Beverley Naidoo's ''The Other Side of Truth'' (La Clé des langues)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naidoo, Beverley 20th-century South African women writers 21st-century South African women writers 1943 births Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the University of York Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people South African children's writers South African people of Indian descent South African women children's writers South African writers University of the Witwatersrand alumni