Bessie Head : thunder behind her ears : her life and writing
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Bessie Head : thunder behind her ears : her life and writing
（Studies in African literature, new series）
Heinemann , James Currey , David Philip, 1995
- : Heinemann
- : James Currey
- : David Philip
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Note
"First published 1995 in southern Africa by David Philip, in the UK by James Currey, and 1996 in the USA by Heinemann" -- t.p. verso
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: Heinemann ISBN 9780435089849
Description
Bessie Head's life echoes the themes of South African history in the last half-century. Her life was a traumatic one, and she drew heavily upon her own personal experiences for her novels. She was born in an asylum to a mother who was considered mad, because she became pregnant by a black man. She was sent to a foster family until she was 13, and then a mission school before training as a teacher. After four years of teaching, she left to work as a journalist for Drum magazine. Despite the disadvantages of being both a person of mixed race and a woman, she made her way in South Africa as a journalist. She later applied for another teaching post, in rural Botswana, where she took up permanent exile. Her life in rural Botswana was in marked contrast to the intensely urban backgrounds of most other South African writers. Botswana is the background for most of her short stories, and all three of her outstanding novels: Where Rain Clouds Gather (1969), Maru (1971), and A Question of Power (
- Volume
-
: James Currey ISBN 9780852555354
Description
Bessie Head's novels include Where Rain Clouds Gather and A Question of Power .
This biography details the life of Bessie Head - a life which echoes so many of the aspects of the distressing history of South Africa in the last half century. She was born in an asylum to a mother who was considered mad becauseher father was black. Despite the disadvantages of being both a person of mixed race and a woman, she made her way in South Africa as a journalist. Her exile in rural Botswana was in marked contrast to the intensely urban backgrounds of most other South African writers. Her fierce determination to take root was reflected in her first novel Where Rain Clouds Gather. But she was kept a refugee for 15 years before she was granted citizenship of Botswana. Her most frightening novel, A Question of Power vividly captures the shifting dislocations of schizophrenia.
South Africa: Witwatersrand University Press
Table of Contents
- Part 1 South Africa - against heavy odds, 1937-64: childhood
- St. Monica's home, 1950-6
- journalism - Cape Town and Johannesburg, 1958-60
- political and emotional involvement, 1960-4. Part 2 Botswana - a fresh start, 1964-77: teaching in Serowe, 1964
- Radisele and Francistown, 1966-69
- "When rain clouds gather"
- Serowe again "Maru"
- putting down roots, 1969-70
- ripping up the young plant - "A question of power"
- a sense of community - "Serowe - village of the rain wind", "The collector of treasures"
- publisher clash, philosophical musings
- history and tale-telling. Part 3 Outside Africa - a broader view, 1977-86: Ohio, 1977
- Berlin and Denmark, 1979-80
- Nigeria, 1982 - "A bewitched crossroad"
- Australia, 1984
- epilogue.
by "Nielsen BookData"
