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.
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. He went to Grey College in Bloemfontein 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. 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.
On August 4, 2010, Venter was nominated for the M-Net Literary Award in the Afrikaans category for his book Santa Gamka.
The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University awarded him as an alumni achiever in November 2011. In 2012, he was writer-in-residence at Rhodes University. In 2018, Venter released his first book created in English instead of Afrikaans titled Green as the Sky Is Blue.
Description
About the book:
In die Oos-Kaapse veld maak ’n skrywer haar in sy verbeelding staan: Vir Decima – ’n formidabele swartrenosterkoei. Haar dogter, Tandeka, is dragtig, en die handvol renosters sien uit na die kalf se koms in die lente. Maar vir Decima is daar vrees wat met elke volmaan in haar opwel. Sy kan steeds die gebeure onthou wat haar baie seisoene vantevore wees gelaat het.
Al werkend aan Decima se verhaal, is Eben. Hy vra: Hoe skryf mens oor hierdie dier as gevoelvolle wese? Deel van die storie is die verskillende karakters wat ’n impak op die lot van die renosters het: stropers, hul kliënte, beoefenaars van tradisionele medisyne, ook die bewaarders. En tussendeur is daar Eben se brose ma wat in die land agtergebly het. Soos hy sy weg vind deur die bladsye van sy manuskrip, is dit die stem van Decima wat die suiwerste in sy gedagtes klink.
Eben Venter se boek kombineer outofiksie, fabel, ’n speurverhaal en die wetenskap, en is ’n dringende pleidooi vir die bewaring van een van die wêreld se megaherbivore. Decima is ’n elegiese werk vir baie stemme waarin die skrywer die aard van verlies in sy vele gestaltes besing en besweer.
