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, . k(Haar eerste skryfpoging was ‘n toneelstukkie terwyl sy nog op laerskool was.) She wrote two one-act plays, Katlagters and Op Deurreis that were published in the periodicals Wurm and Contrast respectively. She also wrote 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. This won the one-act play competition which was held at The Space in 1972/3 (along with Sheila Roberts’s My Weekend, Too) and was performed by them. Published by Taurus in 1978

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 wrote the play Die Patatta and co-operated with Ants Kirsipuu in translating Andorra and Leonce en Lena from the German into Afrikaans. She translated Die Dans van die Reier, Die Paradysboot, WAM (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) from their respective original languages into Afrikaans.

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.