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Zakes Mda

ザケス・ムダ

Zakes Mda

Aliases: Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda / Zanemvula Mda
Pen Names: Zakes Mda（Pen name used for writing）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1948-01-01 （Herschel, Eastern Cape, South Africa）
Nationality
South Africa
Languages
English
Residence History
South Africa (Herschel) → Lesotho → Switzerland (Zurich) → United States (Ohio) → South Africa (Cape Town)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Professor
Active Years
1977-2024
Affiliations
Ohio University, University of Cape Town, Yale University (visiting), University of Vermont (visiting), Johns Hopkins University
Memberships
African Writers Trust (founding member, advisory board)
Influenced By
A. P. Mda (father)

Education

Peka High School
General
Degree: Cambridge Overseas Certificate
Period: -1969
Year of Graduation: 1969
Country: Lesotho
Cambridge Overseas Certificate
International Academy of Arts and Literature
Visual Arts and Literature
Degree: BFA
Period: -1976
Year of Graduation: 1976
Country: Switzerland
Ohio University
Theater
Degree: MFA
Period: -1984
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: United States
MFA in Theater and MA in Mass Communication and Media
University of Cape Town
Degree: PhD
Period: -1989
Year of Graduation: 1989
Country: South Africa

Awards

Amstel Playwright of the Year Award
1978
Work: We Shall Sing for the Fatherland
Result: Special Merit Award
Amstel Playwright of the Year Award
1979
Work: The Hill
Result: Winner
M-Net Book Prize
1997
Work: Ways of Dying
Organization: M-Net
Result: Winner
Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book: Africa
2001
Work: The Heart of Redness
Organization: Commonwealth Foundation
Result: Winner
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
2001
Work: The Heart of Redness
Result: Winner
Sunday Times Fiction Prize
2001
Work: The Heart of Redness
Organization: The Sunday Times
Result: Winner
Barry Ronge Fiction Prize
2017
Work: Little Suns
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ways of Dying

1995 Novel

Set during South Africa's transition to democracy, follows Toloki, a professional mourner, navigating violent townships.

DeathLossTransitionTownships
Translations
  • Translated into Turkish

The Heart of Redness

2000 Novel

Inspired by Nongqawuse's prophecies and the cattle-killing movement; shifts between present and past.

HistoryMythColonialismCultural Conflict
Translations
  • Translated into 21 languages

Bibliography

  • New South African Writing (1977)
  • We Shall Sing for the Fatherland (1979)
  • Dead End (1979)
  • Dark Voices Ring (1979)
  • The Hill (1980)
  • Banned: A Play for Radio (1982)
  • Summer Fires (1982)
  • Bits of Debris: The Poetry of Zakes Mda (1986)
  • And the Girls in their Sunday Dresses (1988)
  • Joys of War (1989)
  • The Plays of Zakes Mda (1990)
  • The Nun's Romantic Story (1991)
  • Soho Square (1992)
  • When People Play People (1993)
  • And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses: Four Works (1993)
  • Ways of Dying (1995)
  • She Plays with the Darkness (1995)
  • Melville 67 (1998)
  • The Heart of Redness (2000)
  • The Madonna of Excelsior (2002)
  • Fools, Bells and the Importance of Eating: Three Satires (2002)
  • The Whale Caller (2005)
  • Cion (2007)
  • Black Diamond (2009)
  • Sometimes There is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider (2011)
  • Our Lady of Benoni (2012)
  • The Sculptors of Mapungubwe (2013)
  • Rachel's Blue (2014)
  • Little Suns (2015)
  • The Zulus of New York (2019)
  • Wayfarers' Hymns (2021)

Translations of Works

  • Novels translated into 21 languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Blending history and mythDepiction of contemporary African realities
Recurring Motifs
GhostsMigrationCultural Identity

Legacy

Prominent South African writer acclaimed for novels on post-apartheid society; winner of Commonwealth Prize and others.

Trivia

  • Son of politician A. P. Mda.