Etienne van Heerden visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, in January 2014. It was a working visit, for research purposes, and for discussions with his translators and his publisher. Here he is, in Amsterdam, with the Afrikaans poet Breyten Breytenbach (left) and (right) his research associate from Utrecht, Erik van den Bergh.
Etienne van Heerden, together with academics from Europe and South Africa, contributed to a festschrift in honour of University of Leiden’s Professor Eep Francken, who is retiring in 2014. Van Heerden was the first Resident Writer from Africa at the University of Leiden and at the time delivered the Albert Verwey lectures. The Festschrift is called Zo ver & zo dichtbij and was published by the Zuid-Afrikahuis. It contains the Dutch version of Van Heerden’s short story “Gifkaroo”.
With reference to Etienne van Heerden’s latest novel Klimtol (a klimtol is a yo-yo), LitNet’s Naomi Meyer interviewed South African Corli du Toit, the 2012 European Yo-Yo champion (Ladies Division). Klimtol will be published by Podium in Amsterdam in the summer of 2014. Read the interview here.
Etienne van Heerden’s poem on Nelson Mandela’s passing was published in Belgium and the Netherlands, in the leading dalies Trouw (Amsterdam) and De Standaard (Antwerp). Here is the first two pages of the Dutch version of four pages in Holland’s Trouw magazine insert on the Saturday before Mandela’s funeral. The translation was done by Van Heerden’s Dutch translators Martine Vosmaer and Karina van Santen. Click here for an enlargement of the first portion of the poem. Read the complete poem here.
Etienne van Heerden will be in conversation with Bibi Slippers about Klimtol at the US Woordfees Literary Festival in Stellenbosch, 10 March 2014.
Beverley Roos-Muller reviews In Love’s Place in Sunday Argus, November 3, 2013.
“Leon de Kock’s well-crafted translation from the original Afrikaans publication In stede van die liefde (2005) captures Van Heerden’s muscular language and enables English-language readers an opportunity to once again savour the author’s extraordinary talent. … This is a simply superb rendition by one of Africa’s greatest writers. It’s hard to overestimate just how impressive it is. Very highly recommended.” – Beverley Roos-Muller, Sunday Argus
Etienne van Heerden received the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award at the 2013 SALA Awards at Museum Africa, Newtown, Johannesburg, for his collection Haai Karoo. Here he is with Nadine Gordimer and Mduduzi Mbada. (Photo: The wRite Associates)
Etienne van Heerden’s novel Klimtol was launched at Graffiti Books, Lynwood Bridge, Pretoria. More photos here.
