Tatamkulu Afrika

Tatamkulu Afrika (Xhosa: "Grandfather Africa") (December 7 1920 - December 23 2002), was a South African poet and writer. Sometimes his first name is spelt Tatamkhulu.

His first novel, "Broken Earth" was published when he was seventeen (under his "Methodist name"), but it was over fifty years until his next publication, a collection of verse entitled "Nine Lives". He won numerous literary awards, and in 1996 his works were translated into French.

He died shortly after his 82nd birthday, from injuries received when he was run over by a car two weeks before, just after the publication of his final novel, "Bitter Eden". He left a number of unpublished works, including his autobiography, two novels, four short novels, two plays and poetry.

His autobiography, "Mr Chameleon", was published posthumously in 2005.

Poetry

* Nine Lives (Carrefour/Hippogriff, 1991)
* Dark Rider (Snailpress/Mayibuye 1993)
* Maqabane (Mayibuye Books, 1994)
* Flesh and the Flame (Silk Road, 1995)
* The Lemon Tree (Snailpress, 1995)
* Turning Points (Mayibuye, 1996)
* The Angel and Other Poems (Carapace, 1999)
* Mad Old Man Under the Morning Star (Snailpress, 2000)
* Au Ceux (French translations) (Editions Creathis l'ecole des filles, 2000)
* Nothing's Changed (2002)
* The Beggar

Novels

* "Broken Earth" (1940)
* "The Innocents" (1994)
* "Tightrope" (1996)
* "Bitter Eden" (2002) An autobiographical novel set in a prisoner-of-war camp during WWII. The novel deals with three men who see themselves as straight but must negotiate the emotions that are brought to the surface by the physical closeness of survival in the male-only camps. The complex rituals of camp life and the strange loyalties and deep bonds between the men are depicted.

References

* [http://www.eastbury.bardaglea.org.uk/folder/english/poetry/nothing's%20changed.ppt Nothing's Changed] , Brief biography (Powerpoint format)
*"Mother, Missus, Mate: Bisexuality in Tatamkhulu Afrika's Mr Chameleon and Bitter Eden," English in Africa 32,2:185-211. Cheryl Stobie, 01 October 2005, Rhodes University, Institute for the Study of English in Africa.