Christopher van Wyk (19 July 1957 – 3 October 2014) was a South African children’s book author, novelist and poet. Van Wyk is famous for his poem "In Detention" on the suspicious deaths that befell South African political prisoners during

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 ...

. He was also an editor at Ravan Press.

Life and work

Van Wyk was born in Baragwanath Hospital in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

. When he was a little older, his family moved to Riverlea, a suburb outside of

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 ...

. He was educated at Riverlea High School in Riverlea, Johannesburg, where he lived until 2005. His autobiographical novel ''Shirley, Goodness & Mercy'' details his childhood growing up in Riverlea. The follow-up novel, ''Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch'', continues this theme. Van Wyk 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'' was a South African literary magazine that was published between 1978 and 1996. History and profile ''Staffrider'' was first published in March 1978. Its founder was Mike Kirkwood. The magazine took its name from slang for people ...

'' from 1981 to 1986 and in 1980 started the short-lived ''Wietie'' magazine with Fhazel Johennesse. One of Van Wyk’s most notable achievements was his abridgement of

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 ...

’s ''

Long Walk to Freedom ''Long Walk to Freedom'' is an autobiography by South Africa's first democratically elected President Nelson Mandela, and it was first published in 1994 by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 yea ...

'' for children. Van Wyk died in Johannesburg on 3 October 2014, aged 57."RIP Chris van Wyk, 1957 – 2014"
BooksLive, 4 October 2014.

Writing

During the literary explosion among black writers that followed the

Soweto uprising The Soweto uprising, also known as the Soweto riots, was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa during apartheid that began on the morning of 16 June 1976. Students from various schools began to p ...

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 punanis 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 Literature 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 Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (9 October 1876 – 19 June 1932) was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer. Plaatje was a founding member and first General Secretary of the South African Native Natio ...

and

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and activist who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Childhood Oliver Tambo was ...

for teenagers, and adaptations of works by

Bessie Head Bessie Amelia Emery Head (6 July 1937 – 17 April 1986) was a South African writer who, though born in South Africa, is usually considered Botswana's most influential writer. She wrote novels, short fiction and autobiographical works that are ...

, Sol Plaatje and

Can Themba Daniel Canodoise "Can" Themba (21 June 1924 – 8 September 1967) was a South African short-story writer. Biography Themba was born in Marabastad, near Pretoria, but wrote most of his work in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa. The town w ...

. 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 ''Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch'' details childhood memories about growing up in Riverlea and his colourful interactions with the men and women who lived the African proverb that "it takes a village to raise a child".

''Van Wyk: The Storyteller of Riverlea''

From 25 January to 24 February 2019, a one-man play entitled, ''Van Wyk: The Storyletter of Riverlea'', was performed by Zane Meas at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. The play was written by Meas and directed by Christo Davids. The actors previously shared the stage in 2007 as "old" and "young" Chris, respectively, in a production van Wyk's memoir, ''Shirley Goodness and Mercy'', adapted by Janice Honeyman, and performed at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town and at the Market Theatre.

Honorary Doctorate of Literature

At a graduation ceremony on 27 March 2019, van Wyk was posthumously awarded the degree of

Doctor of Literature Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

(DLitt) ( ''honoris causa'') by the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

Publications

* ''Memory''(....) * ''Maria'' (1966) * ''It is Time To Go Home'' (1979) * ''A Message in the Wind'' (1982) * ''Petroleum and the Orphaned Ostrich'' (1988) * ''Oliver Tambo'' (1994) * ''My Cousin Thabo'' (1995) * ''April in the Cape of Storms'' (1996) * ''The Year of the Tapeworm'' (1996) * ''Helen Joseph'' (2003) * ''Now Listen Here: The Life and Time of Bill Jardine'' (2003) * ''Shirley, Goodness and Mercy'' (2005) * "In Detention", poem published in ''Knowledge4Africa.com'' (2007) * ''We Write what we like: Celebrating Steve'' (2007) * ''The Long Walk to Freedom'' (Children's abridged version) (2009) * ''Nelson Mandela'' (2010) * ''Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch: A Memoir'' (2010) * ''Ouma Ruby's Secret'' (2014)

References

External links

South African History Online Profile: Chris van Wyk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyk, Chris van 1957 births 2014 deaths South African writers South African male poets 20th-century South African poets 20th-century South African male writers