SOUTH AFRICAN AUTHORS
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F E AT U R E
Lauren Beukes Novelist, journalist and television scriptwriter A "recovering journalist" with multiple awards and international bestsellers behind her name, Lauren Beukes also writes comics, screenplays and TV shows. She has a master’s in creative writing from the University of Cape Town, but claims she got her real education from 12 years of freelance journalism where she picked up useful skills like skydiving, pole dancing and brewing mqombothi. Her novels The Shining Girls, Broken Monsters and Zoo City have been translated into 23 languages and are being developed for film and TV. Beukes’ fiction has been praised by Stephen King, George RR Martin and James Ellroy, as well as The New York Times and The Guardian. Honours and awards Arthur C Clarke Award, August Derleth Award for Best Horror, Strand Critics Choice Award for Best Mystery Novel, RT Book Awards Best Suspense Thriller, Mbokodo Award Must-read book Zoo City 2010, Jacana Media Described as an “energetic phantasmagorical noir” by The New York Times, Zoo City is set in an alternate-reality Johannesburg, where those who commit crimes are magically attached to animal familiars. The novel is high-concept and genre-blending, examining the fracture points of society and who we are. The use of contemporary South African English in the book does well to reflect the current atmosphere in our society.
Deon Meyer Novelist Writing fictional works set in and around Cape Town, Deon Meyer has won over millions of readers in more than 40 countries worldwide. He has also written two television series, four feature film screenplays, and produced and directed movies. Meyer began his career as a journalist at Die Volksblad before working as a copywriter and later a creative director of the publicity department at Salam. He writes suspense novels and thrillers, weaving together characters and storylines that reflect the current climate in South African society. Honours and awards ATKV Prose Prize, Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, Le prix Mystère de la critique, Deutsche Krimi Preis, Martin Beck Award, ATKV Suspense Fiction Prize, M-Net Award for Most Filmic Novel, Barry Award for Best Thriller Must-read book Dead Before Dying 1999, Tafelberg Cape Town detective Mat Joubert has slipped into a downward spiral two years after his wife, a fellow police officer, was killed in the line of duty. His chance at redemption comes when he is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed using a pistol dating back to the Anglo-Boer War. As he draws closer to the killer, the plot takes a shocking and unexpected turn. Dead Before Dying is a character-driven story of fractured lives. It investigates the inner strength that gives us the ability to either escape the darkness of our past or succumb to it. The first of his standalone novels, the book is a definite page-turner.
25 YEARS OF SUCCESS
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