2021 - A creative year for staff and students of the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French

Take note of three creative outputs

   · Pleks van plaas, Jerzy Koch

Jerzy Koch is an Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Dutch and South African Studies in the Faculty of English, at the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. He has translated several Dutch and Afrikaans texts into Polish and is the author of a three-part literary history of South African and Afrikaans literature. For his translations he was awarded the M. Nijhoff Prize, among others. Prof. Koch is also a research fellow in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State. During a recent visit to South Africa (and also to the UFS), he discussed, among other things, his first collection of poems in Afrikaans, Pleks van plaas, published in 2020. On 15 October, during an event at the UFS Campus, he was in conversation with Prof. Henning Pieterse. The discussion was also streamed for the benefit of interested parties outside the UFS.

Please read the following reviews of the poetry collection:

http://joanhambidge.blogspot.com/2020/07/resensie-jerzy-koch-pleks-van-plaas.html

https://versindaba.co.za/2020/06/16/resensie-pleks-van-plaas-jerzy-koch/

   · Die Getuienis and Wat ek van klippe weet

On 2 November 2021, the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French was privileged to launch Francois Smith's latest book, Die Getuienis, for which he was awarded the second place in the NB novel competition. Robert Schall's creative translation of the German poet Jan Wagner's poems, entitled Wat ek van klippe weet, was also launched at the same event.

Francois Smith is a senior lecturer in the Department and co-lecturer (together with Henning Pieterse) for the Master’s degree in Creative Writing at the UFS. Robert Schall completed his book as part of his Master's degree in Creative Writing at the University of the Free State.

During the launch, prof. Henning Pieterse spoke to both writers about the writing process and the audience was treated to readings of some of the original German poems, followed by the Afrikaans translation by Schall. The listeners also got a glimpse into some of the interesting moments and discussions during the student contact sessions in the structured Master’s programme in Creative Writing.

Both of these books have received rave reviews from reputable reviewers such as Joan Hambidge and Louise Viljoen. The UFS's Master’s degree in Creative Writing was mentioned by name and reference was made to the quality of manuscripts delivered via this writing programme.

A next book launch event is planned for early 2022.

Please read two of the reviews at the following links:

https://www.litnet.co.za/resensie-die-getuienis-deur-francois-smith/

https://versindaba.co.za/2021/10/28/resensie-wat-ek-van-klippe-weet-jan-wagner-vert-robert-schall/