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Phumlani Pikoli

プムラニ・ピコリ

Phumlani Pikoli

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1988 （Zimbabwe）
Died
2021-04-11 age 33
Nationality
Zimbabwean, South African
Languages
English
Residence History
Zimbabwe → Pretoria, South Africa

Career

Occupations
Writer, multidisciplinary artist
Active Years
2016-2021

Awards

K. Sello Duiker Memorial prize
2020
Work: Born Freeloaders
Category: debut novel
Organization: South African Literary Awards
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Fatuous State of Severity

2016 short stories and drawings

A collection of short stories and drawings written while recuperating from a depressive episode at a psychiatric clinic. Self-published in 2016 and later republished by Pan Macmillan.

Adaptations
  • [multimedia exhibition] The Fatuous State of Severity

Born Freeloaders

2019 novel

Debut novel exploring assimilation and colonial takeover amongst the young black middle class in democratic South Africa. Published by Pan Macmillan.

assimilationcolonial takeoverblack middle class
Adaptations
  • [film] Born Freeloaders / Diprente Films

Style & Themes

Literary Style
twisted talesfresh ideas

Health

  • depressive episode
    Led to writing his first book while recuperating in a psychiatric clinic.

Legacy

Promising Zimbabwean-South African writer and multidisciplinary artist who died young, with tributes noting his best work was ahead of him.

Trivia

  • Son of prominent South African advocate Vusi Pikoli and Girlie Pikoli.
  • Born in Zimbabwe to parents exiled from South Africa during the Apartheid regime.