Eben Venter

Eben Venter is an Afrikaans-speaking writer who was born in Burgersdorp in South Africa and has lived in Australia, Japan and the Netherlands. He published eleven works of fiction (novels, short story collections and a cookbook). His works have been translated into English, Dutch and German.

Eben Venter
BornBurgersdorp, South Africa
OccupationNovelist
Notable awardsW.A. Hofmeyr Prize
M-Net Literary Award

He was awarded the M-Net Literary Award in 2010 for his book Santa Gamka.

Life

Venter was raised on a farm in Eastern Cape.[1] He went to Grey College in Bloemfontein[2] before he was conscripted into the air force and served on the Angolan border. He obtained an MA in philosophy and worked as a journalist in Johannesburg before leaving South Africa in 1986, during the State of Emergency.[1] He went to Australia where he worked as a chef in his sibling's café.

In 2005, Venter taught at Adam Mickiewicz University and Palacky University before becoming a writer-in-residency at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in 2007.[3]

On August 4, 2010, Venter was nominated for the M-Net Literary Award in the Afrikaans category for his book Santa Gamka.[4]

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University awarded him as an alumni achiever in November 2011.[3] In 2012, he was writer-in-residence at Rhodes University.[1] In 2018, Venter released his first book created in English instead of Afrikaans titled Green as the Sky Is Blue.[5]

List of titles
  • 1986 Witblitz
  • 1993 Foxtrot van die vleiseters, translated into German (as Burenfoxtrott) and Dutch (Dans aan het einde van de dag)
  • 1996 Ek stamel, ek sterwe, translated into English (My Beautiful Death) and Dutch (Ik stamel ik sterf)
  • 1999 My simpatie, Cerise
  • 2000 Twaalf
  • 2003 Begeerte
  • 2006 Horrelpoot, translated as Trencherman
  • 2009 Santa Gamka
  • 2010 Brouhaha
  • 2013 Wolf, Wolf, translated into English by Michiel Heyns

Awards

References
  1. "Eben Venter". tafelberg.com. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  2. "Working with Words: Eben Venter". wheelercentre.com. June 17, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  3. "2011 Alumni Achievers". alumni.mandela.ac.za. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  4. "NOMINATIONS AND WINNERS". The Witness. August 4, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  5. "Three books by Eben Venter acquired by Penguin Random House". readinglist.click. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
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