Zakes Mda
| Zakes Mda | |
|---|---|
| Born | Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda 1948 Herschel, Eastern Cape |
| Occupation | novelist, poet and playwright |
| Notable works |
Etisalat Prize for Literature Sunday Times Fiction Prize 2001 |
Zakes Mda, legally Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda (born 1948), is a South African novelist, poet and playwright. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays. He is currently a Patron of the Etisalat Prize for Literature.
Zanemvula Mda was born in Herschel, South Africa, in 1948. He studied in South Africa, Lesotho and the United Kingdom. He worked in these countries as well.
When he started publishing, he adopted the pen name of Zakes Mda. In addition to writing novels and plays, he has taught English and creative writing in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Most recently, he went to the United States, where he became a professor in the English Department at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He has been a visiting professor at Yale and the University of Vermont.
Mda is a founding member and currently (as of 2011) serves on the advisory board of African Writers Trust, "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to foster knowledge and learning between the two groups."
On 8 June 2012 Zakes Mda was awarded an honorary doctorate of the University of Cape Town for his contributions to world literature. His novels have been translated into 21 languages, the translation of Ways of Dying into Turkish being the latest.
Mda's first novel, Ways of Dying, takes place during the transitional years that marked South Africa's transformation into a democratic nation. It follows the character of Toloki. After finding himself destitute, he invents a profession as a "Professional Mourner." He traverses the violent urban landscape of an unnamed South African city, finding an old love amidst the internecine fighting present in the townships and squatter settlements.
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