Wilma Stockenström

Wilma Stockenström (1933-) [1] is a South African actress, poet, novelist and playwright.

(Also credited in some cases as Wilma Kirsipuu.)

Biography

She was born in Napier in the Overberg district of South Africa, where she completed high school. She then went to Stellenbosch University, where she obtained a BA in 1952, having studied drama under Robert Mohr.

In 1954 she moved to Pretoria where she met and married the Estonian linguist and translator Ants Kirsipuu.

In 1993 they moved to Cape Town, where her husband passed away in 2003.

Her career as writer

Her very first piece of writing was a short play, written while she was still in primary school, followed by few poems published in the periodical Wurm. Thereafter she concentrated on plays and the theatre for a while, before turning to poetry in the late 1960s, producing her first collection, Vir Die Bysiende Leser ("for the short-sighted reader"), published in 1970 by Reijger Uitgewers.

This turned out to be the beginnings of a remarkable career as a highly regarded poet and later novelist, leading to ** collections of poems, ** novels, ** plays, and a number of prestigious awards, including the Hertzog Prize for poetry (1977) and for prose (1991), as well as the SALA Literary Lifetime Award (2008).

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

Her very first piece of writing was a short play written while she was still in primary school, . this was then followed by two one-act plays, Katlagters and Op Deurreis, that were published in the periodicals Wurm and Contrast respectively; a play for children, Dawid, die Dik Dom Kat published by DALRO (1971), an adult fairytale called Die Patatta (or alternatively Trippens se Patatta, DALRO, 1971) and another adult work called Die Laaste Middagmaal, probably her best known play. The latter was the joint winner of the one-act play competition which was held at The Space in 1972/3. (The other winner was Sheila Roberts’s My Weekend, Too). The play was performed by the Space and published by Taurus in 1978.

She was a very competent translator, responsible for Afrikaans translations of inter alia Andorra (with her husband, Ants Kirsipuu), Leonce en Lena, Die Dans van die Reier, Die Paradysboot, WAM (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) and (with Schalk Jacobzs) the film script for Die Besoeker]], an Afrikaans version of Athol Fugard's script for The Guest.

She went on to work as a freelance actress for The Space Theatre ** and **. Among her key performances were in God's Forgotten (Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1976), Strike Up the Banned (Pieter-Dirk Uys, 1976), **. She played in 'n Bruid in die Môre, The Chairs and Drie Susters directed by Robert Mohr. She starred in Barney Simon’s production of Fugard’s Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act together with Vivian Solomons at the Market Theatre in 1979.

She has also appeared in Agt Vroue, Hedda Gabler, The Seagull, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds, Ampie Oppie Diekens, Saterdag, Sondag, Maandag.

She also became an excellent film and television actress, appearing in films such as:

1972 – Vlug van die Seemeeu 1977 – Die besoeker/The Guest: An episode in the Life of Eugène Marais as "Tant Corrie" 1983 – Verspeelde lente as "Griet le Roux" 1990 – The Fourth Reich as "Mrs. Engelbrecht" 1992 – Die Storie van Klara Viljee as "Miss Lizzie Sauer" 1993 – Friends as "Iris" 1993 – Djadje – Last Night I Fell Off a Horse 2002 – Promised Land as "Mart".

Awards, etc

She is one of a handful of writers to have won the Hertzog Prize in two different categories. She won it first for poetry in 1977 and then for fiction in 1991.

She has been awarded:

1977: Hertzog Prize for Poetry for Van vergetelheid en van glans.

1984: CNA Award, Louis Luyt Prize and the Old Mutual Prize for Monsterverse.

1988: Grinzane Cavour Prize for Spedizione al Baobab.

1991: W.A. Hofmeyr Award and Hertzog Prize (for prose) for Abjater Wat So Lag.

2008: SALA Literary Lifetime Award.

2015: Receives a Fiësta-toekenning ("Fiësta award"), a lifetime award in recognition of her contribution to South African theatre and verbal art.

Sources

https://www.litnet.co.za/wilma-stockenstr-m-1933/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Stockenstr%C3%B6m

https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Stockenstr%C3%B6m

Die Patatta theatre programme notes, circa 1965.

Die Burger, 7 August 2008.

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