Tales From the Tip of Africa Trivia Quiz

Answer: Olive Schreiner

Olive Schreiner's "The Story of an African Farm" is considered to be the first of the 'Great South African Novels'. When it was published in 1883 under the pseudonym Ralph Iron, its outspoken viewpoint on both religion and on the social restrictions placed on women caused a bit of a stir. When it was revealed that the author was in fact a woman, Olive Schreiner, controversy ensued. The book is recognised as one of the first feminist novels. Set in the mid 19th century, it tells the story of Em, Lyndall and Waldo, who live with Tant Sannie on a remote ostrich farm in the desolate Karoo region of what was then the Cape Colony and which is now part of South Africa and their struggles to come to terms with the strict social norms of the time. The book is semi-autobiographical. Lyndall was the maiden name of Schreiner's mother.

Olive Schreiner was born to missionary parents in Wittebergen, Cape Colony on 24 March 1855. A staunch advocate of women's rights, she died on 11 December 1920. "The Story of An African Farm" was her first published novel.

Answer: Alan Paton

Alan Paton's 1948 novel, "Cry the Beloved Country", is one of the most important and iconic pieces of South African literature. The novel is set in the pre-apartheid era, but in a time of rising tensions over racial segregation by both blacks and whites. It explores the breakdown of traditional tribal cultures and its consequences. The story follows the journey of a black minister, Stephen Khumalo, from his traditional Zulu village to Johannesburg in search of his son, Absalom. After much searching he finds his son in a prison cell, arrested for the killing of a white activist for racial justice, John Jarvis, during a robbery. John's father, James, a white farmer from the same rural area as Khumalo who is a proponent of racial segregation, comes to Johannesburg on the news of his son's death and the two men meet. During the trial, the two men find a common ground between themsewlves that they never knew existed, which makes them question ingrained beliefs that they had.

Alan Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg is what was then the Natal Colony of South Africa on 11 January 1903. "Cry the Beloved Country" was his first novel and its publication brought international awareness to the issue of racial injustice in the country. He died on 12 April 1988.

Answer: Herman Charles Bosman

"Mafikeng Road" was published in 1947 and is the first of only three books by Herman Charles Bosman published before his death. Bosman is considered to be South Africa's greatest short story writer and the book is a collection of Oom Schalk Lourens stories. Oom (which means uncle in Afrikaans) Schalk is one of the iconic figures of South African Literature. He's a bit of reprobate with a fondness for mampoer (a type of highly alcoholic moonshine) and women. He lives in the remote hamlet of Groot Marico in what is today the North West Province of South Africa and he is a storyteller of note! As he himself says "I can tell the best stories of anybody in the Transvaal..." Written in a satirical, but humorous style, Bosman's keen eye means that the Oom Schalk stories give a great insight into the lives of the simple people of Groot Marico as well as a commentary on the social issues of the time.

A testament to the continued popularity of Oom Schalk is the fact that "Makifeng Road" has never been out of print since its initial publication. Herman Charles Bosman was born in Kuils River in the Cape River on 5 February 1905 and died in Johannesburg on 14 October 1951.

Answer: Andre Brink

Probably Andre Brink's most well known novel, "A Dry White Season" was published in both Afrikaans and English in 1979, just three years after the Soweto Riots took place and just two years after the death in detention of the activist, Steve Biko. The title of the novel comes from a struggle poem, "For Dan M - Banned" by Mongane Willy Serote. The novel is set in Johannesburg and Soweto during the apartheid years and charts the story of a mild, white schoolteacher named Ben Du Toit. Against his better judgement, Ben becomes involved in assisting Gordon Ngubane, a black janitor at his school, in trying to find out what happened to his son, Jonathan, who disappeared in the aftermath of the Soweto Riots. The story follows Ben's pursuit of the truth and its consequences. "A Dry White Season", which was initially banned in South Africa, became an international success and won the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize in 1980.

Andre Brink was born in Vrede in the Free State province of South Africa on 29 May 1935. Writing in both English and Afrikaans, he was part of a group of Afrikaans writers opposed to apartheid who were known as "Die Sestigers" ("The Sixty-ers"). He died aboard a flight from the Netherlands to South Africa on 6 February 2015.

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

"The Conservationist" is the sixth novel by Nadine Gordimer, one of South Africa's most acclaimed writers and activists. In 1974, it achieved a world first when it was announced as the co-winner of the Booker Prize alongside Stanley's Middleton's "Holiday"; the first time the prize had ever been shared. Set in the apartheid era, the novel shares the thoughts and views of a wealthy, white South African man called Mehring. He is dissatisfied and bored so he buys a "hobby farm" outside Johannesburg, although he knows nothing about farming or the black community who actually run the farm. This book is one of the three of Gordimer's novels to be singled out by the Nobel Prize for Literature committee when they decided to award her the 1991 prize.

Nadine Gordimer, who was born in Springs, outside Johannesburg, on 10 November 1931, was a prominent South African author and activist against apartheid. She was also a tireless campaigner against HIV/Aids. She died on 13 July 2014 in Johannesburg.

Answer: Bryce Courtenay

"The Power of One" is the first novel from the South African born writer, Bryce Courtenay, and was published in 1989. Set in South Africa between 1939 and 1951, the book follows the life of a young English speaking South African boy called Peekay from the age of five through seventeen. It tells the story of the life lessons he learns as he grows up including the medicine man, Inkosi-Inkosikazi, who shows him how to access "the power of one" and the boxer, Hoppie Groenewald who teaches him to think "first with your head, then with the heart". In 1991, Courtenay produced a sequel to "The Power of One" called "Tandia" which continues the story of Peekay.

Bryce Courtenay was born in an isolated village in the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa on 14 August 1933. In 1958 he moved to Australia after marrying an Australian. He died on 22 November 2012.

Answer: J.M. Coetzee

"Disgrace" the eighth novel by the South African born author, J.M. Coetzee, and was published in 1999. The novel won that year's Booker Prize giving Coetzee his second award after his fourth novel, "Life & Times of Michael K", won in 1983. The book has also been named by the BCC on its list of "100 most influential novels". Set in post-apartheid South Africa, it is the story of David Lurie, a white 52 year old, twice divorced Professor of Communication and Romantic Poetry at the University of Cape Town. Lurie's comfortable life is torn apart when his seduction of, and affair with, one of his students is revealed. In disgrace, he retreats to live with his daughter, Lucy, on her remote farm in the rural Eastern Cape.

John Maxwell Coetzee was born in Cape Town in 1940 and after his retirement from the University of Cape Town in 2002, he moved to Adelaide, Australia becoming an Australian citizen in 2006. In 2003 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Answer: Deon Meyer

"Devil's Peak" is the first in a series of novels by the South African thriller and crime writer, Deon Meyer, featuring Benny Griessel. It was originally published in Meyer's native tongue, Afrikaans, in 2005 as "Infanta" and the English translation was released in 2007. The novel takes its English title from one of the mountains that overlook Cape Town. It is a thriller that tells the story of Detector Inspector, Benny Griesel, a member of the Cape Town Serious and Violent Crimes Unit and his hunt for a vigilante killer, Thobela, who wreaks revenge on those who have abused children. An alcoholic who is struggling with sobriety, Griessel makes use of Christine, a highly paid call girl with a young daughter, to set a trap for the killer.

Deon Meyer was born in Paarl in the Cape Winelands on 04 July 1958 and his first novel is "Dead Before Dying" in which Benny Griessel makes an appearance as a minor character. His books have been translated into over 20 languages.

Answer: Damon Galgut

"The Promise", the ninth novel from Damon Galgut, was published in 2021. The novel won the 2021 Booker Prize. The story takes place over four decades, each one featuring a death and a funeral, spanning a period that saw South Africa's transformation from apartheid to democracy. It follows the Swart family, a white family who live on a farm outside Pretoria. The promise of the title is the father's vow made to his wife on her deathbed to bequeath a parcel of land and a home to her faithful servant, Salome. Galgut has stated that the idea for the novel came from a conversation he had with a friend who was the last surviving member of his family.

Damon Galgut was born in Pretoria on 2 November 1963 and he wrote his first novel at the age of just seventeen. He is considered to be one of the leading South African authors.

Answer: Zakes Mda

"The Whale Caller" is the fifth novel by Zakes Mda, the pen name for Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda, the South African writer and activist. Published in 2005, this quirky and eccentric book is the story of a love triangle with a difference. It is set in the seaside town of Hermanus and charts the relationship between the Whale Caller, whose job is to notify tourists of the presence of the southern right whales that are the town's main attraction, a whale called Sharisha and the local town drunk named Saluni, who is madly in love with the Whale Caller.

Zakes Mda, was born in Herschel in the Eastern Cape on 1 January 1948. A former activist, he has stated that "the end of apartheid ended the burden of the South African novelist to write on political subjects".

An aside: In 1991, Hermanus became the first place in the world to appoint an official whale crier who uses a kelp horn to alert people to the presence of the whales. It is my home town and I can vouch for the excitement caused by the honk of the whale horn.