Dianne Stewart (born 4 March 1952) is a South African author who has published over 40 books for adults and for children. She writes in English, and her books have been translated both into African languages, including

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

, Zulu,

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana *Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an offi ...

, and

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, and European languages, including French, Spanish, and Swedish. Stewart's African folklore books include ''Daughter of the Moonlight and Other African Tales'' (1997), ''The Zebra's Stripes and Other African Animal Tales'' (2004), ''African Myths and Legends'' (2014), ''Folktales From Africa'' (2015), and ''The Guineafowl's Spots and Other African Bird Tales'' (2018). She has also published a book of African proverbs entitled ''Wisdom from Africa'' (2013), a book dedicated to Anthony Davey, her

isiXhosa Xhosa ( , ), formerly spelled ''Xosa'' and also known by its local name ''isiXhosa'', is a Bantu language, indigenous to Southern Africa and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language ...

professor at Rhodes University. These folklore publications have made Stewart a "household name" in the publishing of African folktales for English-speaking South African audiences. Stewart's book ''The Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa'' (1996), with illustrations by Jude Daly, won the Smithsonian Notable Books for Children award in 1996. Stewart graduated from

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

in 1973 with degrees in Psychology and

, and she later taught isiXhosa; Stewart's mother is a fluent Xhosa speaker. For her M.A. degree in African Languages at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

, Stewart studied the Zulu and Xhosa work-songs of rural woman on sugar-cane farms on the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

coast. Stewart also has an M.A. in creative writing from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. Stewart resides in

Ballito Ballito is an affluent coastal town located in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Ballito is about north of Durban and 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of KwaDukuza. It forms part of the KwaDukuza Local Municipality, and iLembe District Municipality. ...

, South Africa, and she grew up in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

References

External links

''Folktales from Africa''
by Dianne Stewart and illustrated by Marjorie van Heerden at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

''The Dove''
by Dianne Stewart and illustrated by Jude Daly at

''The Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa''
by Dianne Stewart and illustrated by Jude Daly at

* Dianne Stewart on writing ''Nuances'' i
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Dianne 1952 births Living people 20th-century South African writers 21st-century South African writers 20th-century South African women writers 21st-century South African women writers Rhodes University alumni University of Natal alumni University of Cape Town alumni Folklore writers