Adam Small

(1936-) Poet, dramatist, and professor of philosophy and social work. Perhaps the most prominent “coloured” writer of the 1960-1970 period, he later rejected the label and for a while preferred writing in English and in the 1980s associated himself with the ideals of black consciousness and referred to himself as a black writer of Afrikaans. By the 1990s he returned to writing in Afrikaans. First made his name as a poet with the Afrikaans collection Kitaar my kruis ("Guitar my Cross", 1961) followed by Sê Sjibbolet (1963) and the English Bronze is Beautiful (1975). As a dramatist he wrote (and directed) a number of works for the Drama Society of the University of the Western Cape (DRAMSOC). The first was Gone Canada, written in 196*, rewritten to become one of the most famous and influential of Afrikaans plays: Kanna hy kô Hystoe ("Kanna Comes Home" - 1965, English 1990), which he orignally directed himself with the [Drama Society of the University of the Western Cape]] (DRAMSOC). Small was involved in founding the Cape Flats Players in 197* and the Peninsula Theatre in 198*. Small’s later works include Joanie Galant-hulle ("Joanie Galant and her people" - published 1978), The Orange Earth (1978), Die Krismis van Map Jacobs ("The Christmas of Map Jacobs" - A Nederburg commission for the Performing Arts Council of the Orange Free State, published 1983), What about the lô? (a programme of his poetry), Die Vyfde Evangelie ("The Fifth Gospel" - 19*) and ****. SMALL, Adam. His Kanna Hy Kô Hystoe was staged at the Alexander in 1974. Wilna Snyman starred in this play for which she received a best actress award. His first play in English, The Orange Earth was directed by Jo Dunstan and staged at Upstairs at the Market in 1978.

Sources

Tucker, 1997

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