Lotus Prize for Literature
1 appearances
-
Edition 1 (1969) Winner
Alex La Guma
アレックス・ラ・グマ
Alex La Guma
Aliases:
Justin Alexander La Guma
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1924-02-20 （District Six, Cape Town, South Africa）
- Died
- 1985-10-11 （Havana, Cuba） age 61
- Nationality
- South Africa
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- District Six, Cape Town → United Kingdom (in exile) → Havana (resident as ANC representative)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Anti-apartheid activist
- Active Years
- 1947-1985
- Affiliations
- South African Communist Party, African National Congress (ANC), South African Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO)
- Memberships
- South African Communist Party, African National Congress (served as representative)
- Influenced By
- James La Guma (father), South African communists and labour movement, Anti-apartheid movement
- Influenced
- Generations of South African anti-apartheid writers, James Matthews and contemporaries
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trafalgar High School (Cape Town) | — | — | — | 不詳 | South Africa |
| Technical school | — | — | — | 〜1945 | South Africa |
Trafalgar High School (Cape Town)
Period:
不詳
Country:
South Africa
Attended school in District Six.
Technical school
Period:
〜1945
Year of Graduation:
1945
Country:
South Africa
Graduated from a technical school in 1945.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Lotus Prize for Literature | — | — | Afro-Asian Writers' Association | 受賞 |
| 1984 | Officer of Arts and Letters (France) | — | — | French Ministry of Culture | 受賞（称号） |
Lotus Prize for Literature
1969
Organization:
Afro-Asian Writers' Association
Result:
受賞
Officer of Arts and Letters (France)
1984
Organization:
French Ministry of Culture
Result:
受賞（称号）
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
A Walk in the Night and Other Stories
1967 Short stories / Social realismA collection of short stories portraying urban poverty and racial injustice, featuring the title story "A Walk in the Night."
ApartheidUrban povertyRacial injustice
And a Threefold Cord
1964 Short fiction / NovelA volume published in the 1960s containing politically and socially engaged stories.
Effects of colonialismClass struggle
The Stone-Country
1967 Novel / SocialA novel addressing land, people, and oppression.
Land issuesOppression
In the Fog of the Seasons' End
1972 Novel / Political novelA novel with allegorical elements set against the anti-apartheid struggle.
ResistanceExile
A Soviet Journey
1978 Travel writing / EssaysA travel account of visits to the Soviet Union, describing observations from a political perspective.
InternationalismSocialism
Time of the Butcherbird
1979 NovelA novel depicting South African society under apartheid.
Racial discriminationPolitical repression
Quartet: New Voices from South Africa
1963 Anthology / Short fictionAn anthology featuring four writers, introducing new South African voices.
New literary voicesSocial critique
Bibliography
- Quartet: New Voices from South Africa (1963)
- And a Threefold Cord (1964)
- A Walk in the Night and Other Stories (1967)
- The Stone-Country (1967)
- In the Fog of the Seasons' End (1972)
- A Soviet Journey (1978)
- Time of the Butcherbird (1979)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Social realismVivid dialoguePolitical and protest tone
- Recurring Motifs
- Urban povertyLabour strugglesRacial discriminationExile and belonging
Health
-
Heart attack1985Died suddenly of a heart attack in Havana in 1985
Legacy
Alex La Guma is regarded as one of the leading South African writers of the 20th century for his vivid depiction of oppression under apartheid. He remained politically engaged in exile and received international recognition.
Archives
- South African History Online archive
- Records of the South African Communist Party (related materials)
In Popular Culture
- Mentioned in ANC cultural journals and tributes (e.g., Rixaka)
Trivia
- Born in 1924 in District Six, Cape Town.
- One of the 156 accused in the 1956 Treason Trial.
- Went into exile to the UK with his family in 1966.
- Awarded the Lotus Prize for Literature in 1969.
- Appointed Officer of Arts and Letters by France in 1984.
- Died of a heart attack in Havana in 1985.