Stephen Gray (30 November 1941 – 22 October 2020) was a South African writer and critic.

Career

Gray was born in Cape Town on 30 November 1941. He studied at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, and later at 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 ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, England (where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Arts, both in English), and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, US (where he studied a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing). He was also awarded a D. Litt and d. Phil. by Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg. Until 1992, he was Professor of English at the

Rand Afrikaans University The Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) (Afrikaans: ''Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit'') was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surroundings from 1967 to 2004. It ha ...

in Johannesburg. Gray was a prolific poet and published eight novels. Recurrent themes include attitudes to homosexuality and the many rewritings of history in South Africa, including examining attitudes to class and race. His literary journalism appeared in the South African weekly newspaper, the Mail & Guardian, from the 1990s to the 2010s. He also wrote for the theatre and edited collections of work by

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 Herman Charles Bosman. Gray died on 22 October 2020 in

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 ...

at the age of 78.

Published works

: ote: Gray has been published in many countries by various publishers in other editions. Consult ISBN in WorldCat and other sources for multiple editions.">WorldCat">ote: Gray has been published in many countries by various publishers in other editions. Consult ISBN in WorldCat and other sources for multiple editions.

Novels and short stories

* ''Local Colour''. Ravan Press, 1975. * ''Visible People''. R. Collings, 1977. . * ''Caltrop's Desire''. Africa Book Centre, 1980. . * ''Time of Our Darkness''. Arrow, 1988. . * ''Born of Man''. Gay Men's Press, 1989. . * ''War Child''. Serif, 1994. . * ''My Serial Killer and other Short Stories''. Jacana Media, 2005.

Plays

* ''Schreiner: A One-Woman Play''. David Philip, 1983. .

Poetry

* ''It's About Time''. David Philip, 1974. . * ''Man’s Gold''. Egon Guenther, 1978. With 28 woodcuts by Cecil Skotnes. * ''Hottentot Venus and other Poems''. David Philip, 1979. * ''Love Poems: Hate Poems''. Bellew Publishing, 1982. . * ''Apollo Café and Other Poems, 1982-89''. David Philip, 1989. . * ''Season of Violence'', Justified Press, 1992. * ''Selected Poems 1960-92'', David Philip, 1994. * ''Gabriel's Exhibition'', Mayibuye Books, 1998.

As editor

* C. Louis Leipoldt. ''Stormwrack''. David Philip, 1980. . * ''Modern South African Poetry''. A. D. Donker, 1984. . * ''The Penguin Book of Southern African Stories''. Penguin, 1985. . * ''The Penguin Book of Southern African Verse''. Penguin, 1988. . * ''South Africa Plays: New South African Drama''. Nick Hern, 1994. . * Charles Rawden Maclean ''alias'' John Ross. ''The Natal Papers of "John Ross"''. U of Natal P, 1996. .

Other

* ''Southern African Literature: An Introduction''. Barnes & Noble Imports, 1979. . * ''John Ross: The True Story''. 1987. * ''Human Interest and Other Pieces''. Justified Press, 1993. . * ''Accident of Birth: An Autobiography''. COSAW Publishing, 1993. . * ''Free-lancers and Literary Biography in South Africa''. Editions Rodopi BV, 1999. . * ''Life Sentence: A Biography of Herman Charles Bosman''. Human & Rousseau, 2005. .

References

* *Gray, Stephen (Ed.) ''Modern South African Poetry''. A. D. Donker, 1984. .

External links

Stephen Gray Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Stephen 1941 births 2020 deaths 20th-century South African poets South African male novelists South African non-fiction writers University of Cape Town alumni South African LGBTQ novelists South African male poets Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown 20th-century South African male writers South African male non-fiction writers Academic staff of Rand Afrikaans University