Marlene van Niekerk

Marlene van Niekerk is a South African author who is best known for her novel Triomf. Her graphic and controversial descriptions of a poor Afrikaner family in Johannesburg brought her to the forefront of a post-apartheid society, still struggling to come to terms with all the changes in South Africa. In translation by Leon de Kock, this book was critically acclaimed in the US and UK, and was filmed in 2008.

Van Niekerk studied Languages and Philosophy at Stellenbosch University. While here, she wrote three plays for the lay theatre. In 1979 she moved to Germany to join theatres in Stuttgart and Mainz as apprentice for directing. From 1980 to 1985 she continued her studies of philosophy in The Netherlands. Back in South Africa she lectured in Philosophy at the University of Zululand, and later at the University of South Africa in Pretoria. Afterwards she was lecturer in Afrikaans and Dutch Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Although she made her debut as a poet in 1977 and subsequently published another volume of poetry and a volume of short stories, it was the publication of Triomf in 1994 which catapulted her to fame. Her long-awaited second novel, Agaat (2004) was equally critically acclaimed. It was translated by fellow novelist, Michiel Heyns, and appeared in the UK and US as The Way of the Women. Her third novel, Memorandum: A Story with Pictures (also translated by Heyns) appeared in 2006. She is currently a professor of creative writing at the University of Stellenbosch.