Marguerite Poland (born 3 April 1950,

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 ...

) is a South African writer and author of eleven children's books.

Early life

When she was two years old, the Poland family relocated to 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 ...

where she spent most of her formative years. After completing her secondary education at St Dominic's Priory School 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 ...

, Poland completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at

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 ...

, majoring in Social Anthropology and Xhosa. In 1971, Marguerite Poland completed her honours degree in African languages at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

. In 1977 she obtained her master's degree in Zulu literature specialising in Zulu folktales – her field of speciality being cattle. In 1997 she was awarded her PhD, her doctoral thesis was 'A Descriptive Study of the Sanga-Nguni Cattle of the Zulu People' – from 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- ...

. She also has an Honours degree in Comparative African Languages and an MA and PhD in Zulu Literature from the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University ...

Personal life

Poland also worked as a social worker in

and 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 ...

. Poland also worked as an ethnologist at the

Iziko South African Museum The Iziko South African Museum, formerly the South African Museum (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Museum), is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Most recently she taught English for a year at St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown, where she was commissioned to write a history of the school to mark the 150th anniversary of its foundation in 2005. The resulting publication ''The Boy in You: a Biography of St Andrew's College, Grahamstown 1855–2005'' was launched in South Africa and London in 2008. Poland is married to attorney, Martin Oosthuizen, who was also raised in the Eastern Cape and attended St Andrew's College. They have two daughters and four grandchildren and divide their time between Durban and Grahamstown where she acts as historian to the college.

Creative work

Among her works are ''The Mantis and the Moon'' and ''Woodash Stars'' for both of which she received the

Percy FitzPatrick Award The Percy FitzPatrick Award, in recognition of author Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, was initiated in 1970 for the best South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Afric ...

, the first two books to receive this award. ''The Mantis and the Moon'' also received the Sankei Honorable Award for translation into Japanese. In 1984 she published ''The Small Clay Bull'' (David Philip) and ''The Story of the Fiery Necked Nightjar'' (Ravan Press). She has written five adult novels. ''The Train to Doringbult'' was short listed for the CNA Awards and '' Shades'' for the M-Net Award. ''Shades'' has been a matriculation set work for over a decade throughout South Africa. It was translated into Dutch as ''Schimmenspel'' in 2015 (Mozaïek Publishers). Her third novel, ''Iron Love'', draws much of its inspiration from the lives of a group of boys just prior to the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

of 1914–1918. A stage adaption written and directed by Ingrid Wylde appeared at the

National Arts Festival The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an annual festival of performing arts in Makhanda, South Africa. It is the largest arts festival on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers. The ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

in 2006. Her more recent works, ''Recessional for Grace'' and ''The Abundant Herds: a Celebration of the Nguni Cattle of the Zulu People'' have been adapted for documentary films. Her novel, ''The Keeper'' was published in 2014 and translated into Afrikaans by Daniel Hugo, titled ''Die Bewaker''. This was followed in October 2019 by ''A Sin of Omission'', an historical novel set in the Eastern Cape. Her anthology, ''The St Andrew's College Chapel - a history: 1955-2018'' was published in 2018. Over the years her work has been translated into several languages including Afrikaans, Dutch, French, and Japanese. She was chosen to appear in ''Twentieth Century Children's Writers'', the 'International Who's Who', published by Cambridge University Press and is a featured writer in the KZN Literary Tourism project.

Awards

Marguerite Poland is the recipient of two national Lifetime Achievement Awards for English literature; one from the Department of Arts and Culture in 2005 and then in 2010 from the South African Literary Awards. Poland was the first recipient of the

for children's literature in 1979 for ''The Mantis and the Moon'' and in 1983 she won the award again for ''Woodash Stars''. In 1984 she received the Japanese Sankei Honourable Award for ''The Mantis and the Moon'' in translation. ''Train to Doringbult'' was shortlisted for the CNA Award in 1988 and in 1994 ''Shades'' was shortlisted for the M-Net Award. In 2013 ''Taken Captive by Birds'' was shortlisted for the Nielsen Booksellers' Choice Award. Poland received the Nielsen Booksellers' Choice Award in 2015 for her novel, ''The Keeper'': This prize is given to the title that South Africa's booksellers most enjoyed reading, promoting and selling in 2014. In 2015 she won the Ingwazi Award for contribution to the cultural history of

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 ...

. On 28 April 2016, the

Order of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African civilian honour that recognises achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports. Before the order was established on 30 November 2003, such achievements were recognised by the ...

- Silver (OIS) was conferred on Marguerite Poland‚ for "her excellent contribution to the field of indigenous languages, literature and anthropology".

Works

Novels

* (shortlisted for the CNA Award). * (shortlisted for the M-Net Award) * * This novel has been translated into French as ''Cantique pour Grace'' * This novel has been translated into Afrikaans as ''Die Bewaker'' * * ''A Sin of Omission.'' EnvelopeBooks (UK/ROI). 5 May 2022.

Non-fiction

* with David Hammond-Took, illustrated by Leigh Voigt * * , illustrated by Craig Ivor *

Children's books

* * ''Die Bidsprikaan en die Maan'', 1981 * * ''The Bush Shrike'', 1982, Raven Press * *

* * * ''The Small Clay Bull'',1984, David Philip *''The Story of the Fiery Necked Nightjar'', 1984, Raven Press *

* * * *

Anthologies

Contributed to: * ''South Africa 27 April 1994'' Ed. Andre Brink, 1994 Quellerie * ''27 April, One Year Later''. Ed Andre Brink, 1995 Quellerie * ''Madiba Magic'', date? Tafelberg * ''Keersy/Crossing Over, Stories from a new South Africa'' compiled by Linda Rode and Jakes Gerwel

References

External links

Marguerite Poland

a short biography and bibliography

inventory of papers, 1976 – 1997
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poland, Marguerite 1950 births University of Natal alumni Rhodes University alumni Stellenbosch University alumni Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga Living people South African women novelists South African children's writers South African women children's writers