Corlia Fourie

Corlia Fourie (1944-) Journalist, playwright, novelist and writer.

Biography

Cornelia (Corlia) Hilda Fourie was born on 11 December 1944 in Kuils River. Her father was the Hertzog Prize winner Mikro (CH Kühn). She matriculated at the Hendrik Verwoerd High School in Pretoria and in 1965 she obtained a BA degree at Stellenbosch University.

She then worked as journalist at Die Burger newspaper and the woman's journal Sarie, and later also as freelance journalist at Beeld and Huisgenoot.

Starting out with some plays, she later turned to writing children's books, and later short stories and novels, winning numerous awards, including the ATKV-prize , the MER prize the Alba Bouwer Prize.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

She initially became known in the 1980s as playwright with the play Moeders en Dogters, which was awarded the Special Merit Award at the Amstel Playwright of the Year Award, 1983. A few more plays followed (Leuens, 1985; En Die Son Skyn in Suid-Afrika, 1986, Erfgoed and Poppespel).

She also wrote some in English, e.g. Peter, the Cat and the Magic Woods,

In 2006 Moeders en Dogters was chosen as the flagship production for the Suidooster Festival – 21 years after it first appeared.

Her story, Die meisie wat soos ’n bottervoël sing (1991), was set to music by the composer Peter Klatzow and the work was performed with an orchestra and narrator as Tintinyane in Johannesburg and Cape Town.