Marita van der Vyver (born 6 May 1958) is an

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 ...

author who has written several books for both adult and youth audiences. Since 1999, she has been living in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with her husband and four children. Van der Vyver wrote a collection of humorous essays detailing life in the countryside of France, titled ''Die hart van ons huis'' in 2004, after which her first volume of short stories, ''Bestemmings'' was released, together with an English counterpart.

Biography

She was born in

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 ...

in 1958 and grew up in Bellville, Menlo Park and got her early education from Hoërskool Nelspruit. In 1975, in a national Afrikaans poetry competition for matric pupils, she won a study bursary for four years at the university of her choice. She chose

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 ...

, where she participated in D.J. Opperman's poetry workshops and was awarded a BA degree, majoring in Afrikaans and French, in 1978. The following year, she acquired an honours degree in journalism. She completed a master's degree in journalism several years later. After returning to South Africa after a year of travelling in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, van der Vyver worked as a reporter for ''

Die Burger ''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with '' Beeld'' and '' Volksblad'', it ...

'', as a copywriter for ''Leserskring'' (a book club) and a feature writer for ''

Sarie ''Sarie'' is a South African women's magazine, written in Afrikaans. It is published by Media24, and is their oldest publication for women, first published in 1949 under the title '' Sarie Marais''. Based in Cape Town Cape Town is the l ...

''.

Works

She published three youth novels, ''Van Jou Jas'' (1982), ''Tien vir 'n Vriend'' (1987) and ''Eenkantkind'' (1991) before releasing her first novel for adults, ''Griet skryf 'n Sprokie'' in 1992, which won the

ATKV The Afrikaans Language and Culture Association (Afrikaans: Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging), ATKV, is a society that aims to promote the Afrikaans language and culture. The association was founded in 1930 in Cape Town. Since its inception ...

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

and

Eugène Marais Eugène Nielen Marais (; 9 January 1871 – 29 March 1936) was a South African lawyer, naturalist, and important writer and poète maudit in the Second Language Movement of Afrikaans literature. Since his death by his own hand, Marais has be ...

prize. It was translated into English, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Chinese and Hebrew. In 1994, ''Dinge van 'n Kind'', another youth novel, was published before she released her first book for young children, ''Olinosters op die Dak'' in 1997. Another adult novel, ''Wegkomkans'' was published in 1999, followed by ''Griet Kom Weer'' in 2001. Her youth novel ''Die Ongelooflike Avonture van Hanna Hoekom'' won the Sanlam Prize for Youth Fiction in 2002 and was made into a film in 2010. Many of her other novels have also been adapted for stage or screen, such as Griet Skryf 'n Sprokie, Die Dinge van 'n Kind, Vergenoeg, Dis Koue Kos, Skat and Stiltetyd.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van der Vyver, Marita 1958 births Living people Afrikaans-language writers South African women novelists South African women short story writers South African short story writers Writers from Cape Town South African children's writers South African women children's writers International Writing Program alumni 20th-century South African novelists 21st-century South African novelists 21st-century South African women writers 20th-century South African women writers