Skrywers van die jaar

VLU se skrywers van die jaar is twee baie interessante mense: Marita van der Vywer en Gareth Crocker. 

Die Afrikaanse skrywer is die baie bekende Marita van der Vywer. Ek wil amper nie glo dat daar 'n vrou in ons land is wat nog nie een of meer van haar boeke gelees het nie. Op my rak is 'n hele paar, waarvan "Griet skryf 'n sprokie" een is.

Gebore en getoë: Marita van der Vyver is op 6 Mei 1958 in die Kaap gebore, die oudste kind van Danie en Yvonne van der Merwe. Sy het ’n jonger broer en suster. Sy word groot en gaan skool in Bellville (Boston en Welgemoed) en Pretoria (Lynnwood en Menlopark). Die laaste twee jaar van haar skoolloopbaan spandeer sy as onwillige koshuiskind aan die Hoërskool Nelspruit. Marita skryf matriek in 1975 – Afrikaans se eeufeesjaar.

In ’n landwye digkunswedstryd vir matriekleerlinge word sy as een van die wenners aangewys en wen sy ’n studiebeurs vir vier jaar aan die universiteit van haar keuse. Sy kies die Universiteit Stellenbosch, omdat dit haar pa se alma mater was en omdat sy wou wegkom uit die Transvaal.

Van haarself sê sy: “Vandat ek ’n pen kon vashou, wou ek stories skryf. Ek was die kind in die straat wat die stories uitgedink het wat die anders kinders gespeel het. My behoefte is eerder om stories te vertel as om te skryf. As ek honderde jare terug in Afrika geleef het, was ek die storieverteller om die vuur.” (Beeld, 4 Oktober 2008)

“Nee, ek sal nooit ophou skryf nie. Op die ou end is dit ’n skans teen die dood.” (Beeld, 4 Oktober 2008)

'n Collage met 'n paar van haar boeke en 'n foto van haarself. 

Marita van der Vyver (born 6 May 1958) is an Afrikaans author who has written several books for both adult and youth audiences. Since 1999, she has been settled in France with her husband and three children.Van der Vyver wrote a collection of humorous essays detailing life in the countryside of France, titled Die hart van ons huis in 2004, after which her first volume of short stories, Bestemmings was released, together with an English counterpart.

She was born in Cape Town in 1958 and grew up in Bellville and Menlo Park and got her early education from Hoërskool Nelspruit. In 1975, in a national Afrikaans poetry competition for matric pupils, she won a study bursary for four years at the university of her choice. She chose Stellenbosch University, where she participated in D.J. Opperman's poetry workshops and was awarded a BA degree, majoring in Afrikaans and French, in 1978. The following year, she acquired an honours degree in journalism. She completed a master's degree in journalism several years later. After returning to South Africa after a year of travelling in Europe, van der Vyver worked as a reporter for Die Burger, as a copywriter for Leserskring (a book club) and a feature writer for Sarie.

She published three youth novels, Van Jou Jas (1982), Tien vir 'n Vriend (1987) and Eenkantkind (1991) before releasing her first novel for adults, Griet skryf 'n Sprokie in 1992, which won the ATKV, M-Net and Eugène Marais prize. It was translated into English, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Chinese and Hebrew. In 1994, Dinge van 'n Kind, another youth novel, was published before she released her first book for young children, Olinosters op die Dak in 1997.
Another adult novel, Wegkomkans was published in 1999, followed by Griet Kom Weer in 2001. Her youth novel Die Ongelooflike Avonture van Hanna Hoekom won the Sanlam Prize for Youth Fiction in 2002 and was made into a film in 2010. Info: Wikipedia

Die Engelse skrywer is Gareth Crocker: 
Gareth Crocker’s debut novel, Finding Jack, was published in New York to international acclaim. It was translated into several languages and featured in eight volumes of Reader’s Digest Select Editions. It went on to sell more than a million copies in its various formats. On the back of Finding Jack’s success, Penguin Books signed Gareth to a three-book deal. Journey from Darkness was published in 2012 followed by Never Let Go in 2013. Gareth’s latest novel, King, has just been published. Writing is done at night, in a dark room, next to a small window.
Q: Married? Children? Animals?
A: Embarrassing cliché. Married my high school sweetheart in 1999, we’ve been quietly at war ever since. Have two beautiful children, Jordann (8) and Jennifer (11). Four dogs, three of whom are highly pedigreed. Remaining dog has not seen itself on glossy posters of dog breeds and, as a consequence, lives miserably in the shadow of highly pedigreed siblings. Three cats, one of whom is missing a leg courtesy of a recent successful game of ‘fetch’ involving a moving car tyre, attached to a moving car wheel, attached to a moving car.
Q: How long have you been writing?
A: Since I was nine. I discovered that young girls were rather fond of rhyming couplets so I supplemented my weekly pocket money with paid-for love poems for my poetically challenged male classmates. Measured against a kind of ‘tuck shop’ index, it was unquestionably the most lucrative writing period of my life.
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