Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
27 November 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
From the left: Prof Henning Pieterse, Dr Francois Smith, Madré Marais, and Anton Roodt during the joint book launch in the Free State Botanical Garden in Bloemfontein.


The Creative Writing programme in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State (UFS) experienced a book bonanza this year, with the publication of three books. This includes the satirical novel Weerlose meganika by architect Anton Roodt; Die kleinste ramp denkbaar by Dr Francois Smith; and the collection of short stories, Luistervink, from the pen of Madrė Marais. 

Prof Henning Pieterse describes the titles of these books as ‘pure poetry’, and although each of the three books takes place in its own world – whether it is the world of the eavesdropper, the unconscious policeman in the doctor’s consulting room, or the artificial intelligence robots which can wipe out humanity – there is a recurring theme in all three books, namely the end of the cultural period or dominant regime.

The story behind the stories 

In Roodt’s debut novel, Weerlose meganika, robots, artificial intelligence as well as digital beings form the background of the story. It is a fantasy world of technology and biological beings. “The story comes from people’s resistance to robots, the fear that the technology we create could become smarter than us and then turn against us (humans),” says Roodt. 

The dictionary defines an eavesdropper as a ‘secret listener’, and this is also the title of Madré Marais’ collection of short stories. Some of the characters in the short stories take on these ‘eavesdropper’ characteristics by immersing themselves in the world and events around them.

“The writing process was a quest for the identity of the characters. During the course, I sent a character to South America to see what he was going to do there,” Marais said. 

With the events of 2020, the title of Dr Smith’s book, Die kleinste ramp denkbaar, is almost prophetic. “The book attempts to say something about the current life in South Africa; it is attempting to discover a secret,” says Dr Smith. The origin of the story and events in the novel stem from a personal experience for Dr Smith.  

Significant milestone for course

“It is quite special for a small department to be able to publish so much in one year – the result of a process of many years,” said Prof Pieterse, who is heading the course. The course was revived in 2015 and has since published five books, including Die ongelooflike onskuld van Dirkie Verwey by the poet Charl-Pierre Naude, which was published in 2019. 

The course is just one of the many success stories in the department – as evidenced by the publication of Luistervink, Die kleinste ramp denkbaar and Weerlose meganika. The books also serve as the authors’ dissertations for the master’s degree in Creative Writing.

News Archive

These boots are made for walking ... to Cape Town
2014-04-24

On Thursday 1 May 2014, four pairs of feet gave their first stride on a journey that will last for 33 days and stretch over 1 000 kilometres.

These feet belong to four very brave volunteers who will walk all the way to the Cape in order to highlight the problem of food insecurity among students.

Adéle van Aswegen and Ntokozo Nkabinde from the University of the Free State (UFS), together with Ronél Warner and Nico Piedt, both from Bloemfontein, are undertaking this hike as part of a fund-raising effort for the UFS’s No Student Hungry bursary (NSH bursary).

The NSH bursary, established in 2011 by Prof Jonathan Jansen, the UFS’s Vice-Chancellor and Rector, and Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, is aimed at alleviating food insecurity among students at the UFS.

The food bursary is awarded on the grounds of financial need, good academic performance, active participation in student-life programmes and a commitment to community service.

“The NSH bursary of about R30 per student forms only a small part of a student’s day, but it makes a huge difference in their lives,” says Vicky Simpson, coordinator of this programme offering assistance to more than 100 students.

You can follow our hikers’ progress on Twitter by using the #NSHstride. We will also keep you updated on Facebook and our website.

Meanwhile, everyone is invited to show their support for the hikers in a fun way. Take a picture of your foot (or feet), tweet the photo with #NSHstride @UFSweb or post it on your Facebook page and challenge all your friends to do the same.

Daily updates:
(You can also follow us on @UFSweb for daily tweets)

Day 14: 14 May 2014
18:33
43 km
Joalani Guest Farm

Day 13: 13 May 2014
17:30
33 km
Die Rondawels

Day 12: 12 May 2014
16:49
40 km
Aandrus B&B in Richmond

Day 11: 11 May 2014
39 km
Wortelfontein (Magdel and Christiaan)

Day 10: 10 May 2014
15:44
34 km
Hanover Lodge

Day 9: 09 May 2014
40.8 km
Camping between Colesberg and Hanover

Day 8: 08 May 2014
15:25
33.7 km
Colesberg, The Lighthouse Guesthouse

Day 7: 07 May 2014

15:08
23 km
Orange River Lodge

Day 6: 06 May 2014
15:57

51.06 km
Gariep Forever Resort

Day 5: 05 May 2014
12:18
28 km
Rondefontein

Day 4: 04 May 2014
15:27

35 km
Trompsburg: Fox Den

Day 3: 03 May 2014
17:30
46.74 km
Edenburg Country Lodge (Hotel)

Day 2: 02 May 2014
11:44 am
15.3 km
Tom's Place

Day 1: 01 May 2014
32 km
Leeuwberg

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept