Marlene van Niekerk

VAN NIEKERK, Marlene (1954- ) [1]. Poet, novelist and dramatist. ***As a student at the University of Stellenbosch she was part of D.J. Opperman’s famous poetry laboratory and made her name as poet with her collection *****. As a student she also wrote and directed some interesting one-act plays for the annual student play competition. These include Die Duiwel, sy handlanger en die drie ligtekooie, *** and ***. Dissuaded from publishing them by Opperman, she went to Germany to study philosophy and become involved in theatre. However, on her return to teach at the University of the Witwatersrand she very successfully turned her hand to the novel as medium, producing the award-winning novel Triomf in 1994. In 2000 she joined the staff of the University of Stellenbosch as professor in Afrikaans.

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