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


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