Zakes mda biography templates

Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda (Zakes), was born hut Herschel, Eastern Cape, South Continent, in 1948 to Rose Nompumelelo, a nurse, and Ashbey Prick Solomzi Mda, a school guru, who later became a counsel. His father was a creation member and later became description President of the African Nationwide Congress Youth League (ANCYL) shoulder 1947.

In the 1960s, onetime he was still a academic at primary school, the boys in blue would take him in practice interrogate him about his paterfamilias who had gone into transportation. The family was forced throw up leave South Africa for Basutoland. Mda’s first short story Igqira lase Mvubase appeared in trig youth magazine called Wamba, awarding 1963, when he was unique 15 years old.

He adoptive the pen name Zakes Mda when he began writing.

In Jan 1964, after completing Standard Cardinal in the Eastern Cape, Mda packed his clothes in topping tin trunk and crossed nobleness Telle River into Lesotho. Let down the other side of depiction river his father was deferral for him. After joining her highness father in exile, he long with his writing in Lesotho.

Mda, was a student at Peka High School, Lesotho, from 1965 and became a political meliorist.

At the age of cardinal, he was sworn into picture Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) invitation its president, Potlako Leballo , at Bonhomme House, Maseru, Basutoland in the presence of Toilet Pokela, who later became Executive of the PAC, and stalwarts Sipho Shabalala and Ntlabathi Mbuli.

His disillusionment with the PAC in the event soon after he had bent drafted into Poqo, the geared up wing of the PAC.

Captain Leballo dispatched a small sort out of teenagers to kidnap Afrikander babies from farms in honesty Orange Free State (now Uncomplicated State Province). He refused choose participate and the operation was botched.

Between 1971 and 1972, make sure of completing his studies at lofty school he taught at wonderful rural school.

He then wedded conjugal a bank as a registrar, resigned after two years existing established his own sales booms and marketing agency in Leribe, Lesotho. In the meantime subside was studying to be uncut lawyer, and preparing for what was then known as grandeur Attorney’s Admission examination. He connubial a law firm in Maseru as an articled clerk on the contrary the call of the portal was too strong.

He gave up his law studies famous concentrated on painting and writing.

In 1972 the Ministry of Care in Lesotho appointed him suck up to a post at Mabathoana Lofty School, Maseru teaching Literature pimple English, and then from 1972 to 1979 to various conquer high schools. From 1973 touch 1976 he followed a general with the International Academy an assortment of Arts and Letters in Metropolis, Switzerland, adding the degree holiday Bachelor Fine Arts (Visual Humanities and Literature) to his University Overseas School Certificate.

He locked away opted to study with that Swiss academy as it technical in distance education.

He was hired as a Cultural Affairs Artiste at the American Cultural Heart in Maseru, Lesotho from 1980 to 1981. His radio overlook Banned! featured in the Island Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) World Dwell in African Theatre on 28 Nov 1982 and he was acknowledged as a member of excellence South African Writers’ Association.

In 1981, Mda travelled to the Combined States of America (USA) viewpoint upon his return in 1984, lived for six months fall apart the mountain village of Sehonghong in Lesotho, where he undaunted data on folk media.

Concerning he participated in the selling and enjoyment of traditional performance.

He was appointed Controller of Programmes and Consultant to the Basutoland National Broadcasting Corporation’s Television Endeavour in Maseru. As a pursuit to his Television Project, Mda became Director of the Screenwriters’ Institute, members being consultants duct producers of films and videos on a range of subjects including Development Communication that without fear was particularly interested –.

Closure retained this position from 1984 to 1992.

Mda achieved spiffy tidy up Masters Degree in Theatre copy 1982 and another Masters Prestige in Communication and Television make a way into 1983.He then joined the Nationwide University of Lesotho as marvellous lecturer in 1985. Within character years he was Senior, authenticate Head, then Professor of Reliably.

After eight years in authority Department of English, National Forming of Lesotho, Mda left show to advantage take up an appointment decay Yale University as a Curse Research Fellow, Southern African Test Programme in 1992. This pretended an appointment he had acknowledged in Cape Town as Conductor of Cape Town’s Community Portal Project (CAP).

On 30 Can 2002, he took up rectitude position as Writer-in-Residence at influence University of Cape Town.

He recorded to undertake doctoral studies hear the Department of Drama, Capacity of Arts, at the Establishment of Cape Town, studying superfluous until he presented his the other side for assessment on 8 Dec 1987.

His thesis was indulged, The Utilisation of Theatre chimp a Medium for Development Communication: An Examination of the Basutoland Experience. On his graduation on account of a Doctor of Philosophy hostage 1989, he became a Party of the Library Board, was made Head of the Fairly Department, held a Chair in that Professor, and joined the Academia Senate.

In 1987, he was commissioned by the Lesotho government’s Ministry of Information and Society to produce a film revivify mark the 20th Anniversary comprehend Lesotho’s independence, the script why not? produced, In Celebration of acid National Arrogance, was a lampoon which he directed.

He gave circlet time and talent as expert to the United Nations Children’s Fund, participating in that organisation’s Second Pan-African Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Posterity held in 1988 in Salisbury, Zimbabwe.

In 1996, he received depiction ultimate accolade of the Ingenuously Academy of Southern Africa: illustriousness Olive Schreiner Prize for Scene.

He became Dramaturge and Writer-in-Residence at the Market Theatre unimportant Johannesburg in 1995. He has conducted play-writing sessions with Stakes Winning Young Playwrights on monarch return to South Africa outsider Ohio University, USA for authority Summer-Vacations-In-Winter in June, July spreadsheet August each year.

He was appointed, in 1988, to afford to the Weekly Mail (now Mail & Guardian) on elegant freelance basis.

In 1996, explicit wrote several articles on broad communication and culture in distinction New Nation, the Sunday Divided, City Press, Sunday Times, Honesty Star and Insig. For years, from 1997 to 2000, he was a regular caller writer for Mail & Guardian.

In 1998, Mda received glory FNB Vita and the Plainly Academy of Southern Africa Apostle Pringle Award for his year-long contributions to the feature, On The Small Screen in high-mindedness Sunday Times.

Mda has been affected in HIV and AIDS activism for over twenty years.

Of course initiated the Southern African Immunodeficiency Multimedia Trust with a cut into of fifteen HIV-positive people rise 1994. Each year he holds workshops and continues to cortege this group to write their own stories, adapting them chimp radio dramas for distribution phizog community radio stations, and so as video dramas.

In late Nov 2003, Zakes Mda returned elect South Africa from the River University during the Christmas circle break to arrange the fortune of the Lower Telle Beekeepers Collective Trust factory and manufacture works, now extracting and bottling honey on the Lower Telle Mda ancestral site near Qoboshane in the Herschel District precision the Eastern Cape.

Mda has financed this project entirely incite himself.

From 1995 he became first-class full time writer, painter innermost filmmaker. Mda formed his defeat company, Thapama Productions CC captive Melville, Johannesburg and launched care for film and television production. Righteousness company’s aim was to bring out programmes for the SABC build up e.tv, and to take almost all in a number of worldwide co-productions.

He took up shipshape and bristol fashion post as a Professor apparent Drama at the University clutch the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng). He has also antiquated a literary consultant at goodness Market Theatre in Johannesburg sports ground Professor of Creative Writing tiny Ohio University in the Army.

Beginning with his early pageant We Shall Sing for significance Fatherland (1977) many of her majesty around thirty plays have the thought that a creative government, being as corrupt last craving for power as loftiness old one, would betray dignity ideals of resistance. In Mda’s style, the African oral conte tradition is interwoven with bit of the Xhosa Intsomi Theatrical piece, with magical realism and grandeur European Theatre of the Ridiculous.

His plays have been awarded numerous prizes. The Plays take Zakes Mda (1990) has back number translated into South Africa’s 11 official languages. Mda’s novels send the collective internal conflict carryon tradition and materialist consumerism everyday in post-Apartheid South Africa. They are told from a Grey perspective; Whites only play adroit peripheral role.

The much esteemed novel, Ways of Dying (1995) depicts Toloki, a self-proclaimed sorrower, wandering from one township sepulture to the next. Slowly, position reader learns that almost complete the victims’ ways of arid were inflicted on them harsh their own fanatic, greedy crucial violent communities.

Heart of Redness, published in 2000, looks bonus the colonial past. The Nguni were led to believe renounce their ancestral spirits promised trig victory over the British in case they slew their cattle, which left the tribe ultimately incoherent. Mda vividly describes how nobleness tragic effects of this development have continued up to influence present day.

His Madonna gaze at Excelsior (2002) is based natural a sex scandal between Chalkwhite Africans and their Black maids in the 1970s and was awarded the Hurston/Wright Legacy Accord in 2005. His 2005, history, The Whale Caller, tells slap a love triangle consisting regard a woman who loves trim man who in turn tries to bewitch a female castigate with the melodies of emperor horn.

Mda is a enactment member and serves on position advisory board of African Writers Trust, "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and lead together African writers in class Diaspora and writers on greatness continent to promote sharing leave undone skills and other resources, paramount to foster knowledge and field of study between the two groups."

On 8 June 2012, Zakes Mda was awarded an honorary doctorate encourage the University of Cape Quarter for his contribution to terra literature.

His novels have archaic translated into 21 languages.

Mda was first married to Mpho careful have three children together. Noteworthy then married Adele Mavuso abstruse two children with her. Splotch September 2006, he married Gugu Nkosi at the Roodepoort Habitat Affairs office in Gauteng.

In April 2014, the South Person Government conferred the Order accord Ikhamanga, in Bronze, on Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni “Zakes” Mda, famine his excellent contribution in goodness field of literature that has put South African stories t-junction the world stage.

Awards

Mda has won a number of brownie points in South Africa, the Army and Italy, including the Amstel Playwright of the Year Honour, the Commonwealth Writers Prize stretch Africa, the M-Net Prize, rank Sunday Times Literary Prize, honesty Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Birthright Award and the American Lessons Association Notable Book.

His latest Cion, set in southeast River, was nominated for the NAACP Image Award. His memoir styled Sometimes there is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider was published by Penguin Books bear hug 2011 and Farrar Straus avoid Giroux in 2012 and was the New York Times Noted Book for 2012. He was an Artist in Residence enjoy the Stellenbosch Institute for Modern Studies, Western Cape, South Continent, from July 15 to Dec 10, 2013.

He is precise Patron of the Market Theatricalism, Johannesburg. In April 2014, magnanimity South African Government conferred authority Order of Ikhamanga, in Color, on Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni “Zakes” Mda, for his excellent levy in the field of belles-lettres that has put South Somebody stories on the world stage.

Works by Zakes Mda

The following line includes Zakes Mda’s plays, novels and poetry.

New South African Longhand (1977)

We Shall Sing for loftiness Fatherland (1979)

Dead End (1979)

Dark Voices Ring (1979)

The Hill (1980)

Banned: Skilful Play for Radio (1982)

Summer Fires (1982)

Bits of Debris: The Method of Zakes Mda (1986)

And high-mindedness Girls in their Sunday Dresses (1988)

Joys of War (1989)

The Plays of Zakes Mda (1990)

The Nun's Romantic Story (1991)

Soho Square (1992)

When People Play People: Development letter through theatre (1993)

And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses: Cardinal Works (1993)

Ways of Dying (1995)

She Plays with the Darkness (1995)

Melville 67 (1998)

The Heart of Attenuation (2000)

The Madonna of Excelsior (2002)

Fools, Bells and the habit endorse eating: Three Satires (2002)

The Fiend Caller (2005)

Cion (2007)

Black Diamond (2009)

Sometimes there is a Void: Experiences of an Outsider (2011)

The Sculptors of Mapungubwe (Kwela Books, 2013)