Creating Books for the Young in the New South Africa: Essays on authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult literature

Abstract

As the editors of this collection of essays state in their preface, “South African children’s and youth literature has a long history…. South Africa is the most prolific publisher of children’s books in Africa [and] produces arguably the highest quality of literature from the continent.” Nevertheless, outside of South Africa, many South African books are not as well-known as they deserve to be. Barbara Lehman, Jay Heale, and their co-editors strive to counter this problem by presenting the portraits of twenty-nine contemporary English and Afrikaans speaking authors and illustrators in their essays.

Using 1994, the year of the first democratic elections after the end of Apartheid, as their starting point, the editors divide the book into three chronological parts. General introductions, including some historical background information, lead into each of these three sections. The first part, headed “Transition Movers,” showcases eleven authors and illustrators; among them are Lesley Beake, Niki Daly, Sindiwe Magona, and Chris van Wyk. All of them had already gained a high reputation for their work before 1994 (i.e., during a period when the South African children’s literature scene was still dominated by white authors writing in English) and continued to write and illustrate after the big change, helping “South African children’s literature move several steps further.” Part two, called “Writers and Artists of the New South Africa,” focuses on fifteen creators—such as Piet Grobler, Gcina Mhlope, Martie Preller, and Jenny Robson—whose output primarily emerged after the end of Apartheid and is characterized by a reflection of more diverse cultures, stories, and settings. In the final part, “Noteworthy New Talent,” the editors present three promising new writers—Kagiso Lesego Molope, Nokuthula K. Msimang, and Sally Partridge—whose books have already garnered various awards. What these young authors have in common is that their books focus on current issues that play an important role in many teenagers’ lives and that they “are pushing the boundaries of literature for South African adolescents today.”