Richard Rive

Richard Rive (1931-1989). Short-story writer, essayist, novelist and dramatist.

Biography

Born Richard Moore Rive in District Six, Cape Town, in 1930, and was educated at the universities of Cape Town (UCT), Columbia and Oxford, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cape Town, followed by a Masters from Columbia University and a Doctorate from Oxford.

A sportsman, non-racialist and political activist, he was head of the English department at Hewat College of Education in Cape Town and a visiting professor at several overseas universities, including Harvard.

As author he edited anthologies for the Heinemann African Writers Series and wrote three novels, including Emergency (1964) and 'Buckingham Palace' District Six (1986).

Sadly, he was murdered at his home in Cape Town in 1989.

His contribution to South African theatre, film, media and performance

While best known for his short stories and novels, he also had an impact in theatre. He adapted his short story Resurrection into an one-act play (first performed 1966), and won the BBC African Theatre Competition of 1972 with another one-act play, Make Like Slaves. Buckingham Palace, District Six was later also adapted into a successful play (performed by the Baxter Theatre in 1989).

Sources

See Gosher, 1988 [JH]

Shaun Viljoen. 2013. Richard Rive: A Partial Biography (Wits University Press).

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