Synopses & Reviews
Using his own and others memories, professor Shaun Viljoen, a former colleague of Richard Rives, brings the noted South African writer, scholar, and literary critic to life with sensitivity and empathy. This biography follows Rive from the 1950s, when he was writing for Drum magazine and spending time in the company of antiestablishment writers such as Jack Cope, Ingrid Jonker, Eskia Mphahlele, and Nadine Gordimer, to his acceptance to Magdalene College at Oxford, where he completed his doctorate on Olive Schreiner, and his return to South Africa to resume his position as senior lecturer at Hewat College of Education. Vijoen presents a portrait of a man in full, an individual who was committed to the struggle against racial oppression and to the ideals of nonracialism but who also could be irascible and pompous, and who struggled with a troubled awareness of his dark skin color and was guarded about his homosexuality. The book will invite readers to think anew about how they read writers who lived and worked during the years of apartheid.
Synopsis
Using his own and others' memories, professor Shaun Viljoen, a former colleague of Richard Rive's, brings the noted South African writer, scholar, and literary critic to life with sensitivity and empathy. This biography follows Rive from the 1950s, when he was writing for Drum magazine and spending time in the company of antiestablishment writers such as Jack Cope, Ingrid Jonker, Es'kia Mphahlele, and Nadine Gordimer, to his acceptance to Magdalene College at Oxford, where he completed his doctorate on Olive Schreiner, and his return to South Africa to resume his position as senior lecturer at Hewat College of Education. Vijoen presents a portrait of a man in full, an individual who was committed to the struggle against racial oppression and to the ideals of nonracialism but who also could be irascible and pompous, and who struggled with a troubled awareness of his dark skin color and was guarded about his homosexuality. The book will invite readers to think anew about how they read writers who lived and worked during the years of apartheid.
Synopsis
Richard Moore Rive (1930_1989) was a writer, scholar, literary critic and college teacher in Cape Town, South Africa. He is best known for his short stories written in the late 1950s and for his second novel, ?Buckingham Palace?, District Six, in which he depicted the well-known cosmopolitan area of District Six, where he grew up. In this biography Shaun Viljoen, a former colleague of Rive?s, creates the composite qualities of a man who was committed to the struggle against racial oppression and to the ideals of non-racialism but was also variously described as irascible, pompous and arrogant, with a ?cultivated urbanity?. Beneath these public personae lurked a constant and troubled awareness of his dark skin colour and guardedness about his homosexuality. Using his own and others? memories, and drawing on Rive's fiction, Viljoen brings the author to life with sensitivity and empathy. The biography follows Rive from his early years in the 1950s, writing for Drum magazine and spending time in the company of great anti-establishment writers such as Jack Cope, Ingrid Jonker, Jan Rabie, Marjorie Wallace, Es?kia Mphahlele and Nadine Gordimer, to his acceptance at Magdalene College, Oxford, where he completed his doctorate on Olive Schreiner, before returning to South Africa to resume his position as senior lecturer at Hewat College of Education. This biography will resurface Richard Rive the man and the writer, and invite us to think anew about how we read writers who lived and worked during the years of apartheid.
Synopsis
An empathetic biography of the apartheid author, Richard Rive. Richard Moore Rive (1930-1989) was a writer, scholar, literary critic and college teacher in Cape Town, South Africa. He is best known for his short stories written in the late 1950s and for his second novel, 'Buckingham Palace', District Six, in which he depicted the well-known cosmopolitan area of District Six, where he grew up. In this biography Shaun Viljoen, a former colleague of Rive's, creates the composite qualities of a man who was committed to the struggle against racial oppression and to the ideals of non-racialism but was also variously described as irascible, pompous and arrogant, with a 'cultivated urbanity'. Beneath these public personae lurked a constant and troubled awareness of his dark skin colour and guardedness about his homosexuality. Using his own and others' memories, and drawing on Rive's fiction, Viljoen brings the author to life with sensitivity and empathy. The biography follows Rive from his early years in the 1950s, writing for Drum magazine and spending time in the company of great anti-establishment writers such as Jack Cope, Ingrid Jonker, Jan Rabie, Marjorie Wallace, Es'kia Mphahlele and Nadine Gordimer, to his acceptance at Magdalene College, Oxford, where he completed his doctorate on Olive Schreiner, before returning to South Africa to resume his position as senior lecturer at Hewat College of Education. This biography will resurface Richard Rive the man and the writer, and invite us to think anew about how we read writers who lived and worked during the years of apartheid.
About the Author
Shaun Viljoen is an associate professor in the department of English at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. His primary areas of focus are South African literature and East and West African literature in English and in translation.