Lisa Fugard is a South African writer and actor. She was born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

, South Africa, in 1961, the only child of playwright

Athol Fugard Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (; 11 June 19328 March 2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor and director. Widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright and acclaimed as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaki ...

and novelist

Sheila Meiring Fugard Sheila Meiring Fugard (born 1932 in England) is a writer of short stories and plays and the ex-wife of South African playwright Athol Fugard. Personal history Born in Birmingham, England in 1932, Sheila Meiring moved with her parents to South A ...

. From 1980 she pursued an acting career in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and in 2006 wrote her debut novel ''Skinner's Drift.''

Career

Fugard moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1980 to pursue an acting career, and has garnered numerous stage and film roles, including Isabel Dyson in the original production of her father's ''My Children! My Africa!.'' Since 1992, Fugard has written many short stories for literary magazines, and articles for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' travel section. In January 2006, she wrote the novel ''Skinner's Drift'', a story of a daughter's return from the United States to her father's rural Afrikaner community in post-Apartheid South Africa. The novel was a finalist for the LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the runner up for the Dayton Literary Peace prize. She has one son and currently lives in

Encinitas, California Encinitas ( Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. Located in Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and a ...

Talks

Fugard was a guest speaker at the 2007 Literary Guild of Orange County Festival of Women Authors.

References

African odyssey
January 2006 BookPage.com Interview by Alden Mudge *

External links

Lisa Fugard
Official website 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American travel writers American women travel writers American women short story writers American women novelists Living people South African people of Dutch descent People from Gqeberha Writers from the Eastern Cape South African people of English descent South African people of French descent South African people of Irish descent South African women short story writers South African short story writers South African travel writers South African women novelists South African emigrants to the United States 20th-century births People from Encinitas, California People from Borrego Springs, California 21st-century South African novelists Novelists from California 21st-century American non-fiction writers South African actresses 1961 births {{SouthAfrica-writer-stub