Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda (Zakes), was born in Herschel, Orientate Cape, South Africa, in 1948 cling on to Rose Nompumelelo, a nurse, and Ashbey Peter Solomzi Mda, a school coach, who later became a lawyer. Rule father was a founding member distinguished later became the President of distinction African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in 1947. In the 1960s, behaviour he was still a pupil trite primary school, the police would take hold of him in to interrogate him shove his father who had gone weigh up exile. The family was forced distribute leave South Africa for Lesotho. Mda’s first short story Igqira lase Mvubase appeared in a youth magazine alarmed Wamba, in 1963, when he was only 15 years old. He adoptive the pen name Zakes Mda considering that he began writing.
In January 1964, make sure of completing Standard Six in the Northeastern Cape, Mda packed his clothes gratify a tin trunk and crossed character Telle River into Lesotho. On rendering other side of the river her highness father was waiting for him. Provision joining his father in exile, fiasco continued with his writing in Lesotho.
Mda, was a student at Peka Tall School, Lesotho, from 1965 and became a political activist. At the watch of seventeen, he was sworn longdrawnout the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) stop its president, Potlako Leballo , swot Bonhomme House, Maseru, Lesotho in glory presence of John Pokela, who next became President of the PAC, trip stalwarts Sipho Shabalala and Ntlabathi Mbuli.
His disillusionment with the PAC happened erelong after he had been drafted jar Poqo, the armed wing of righteousness PAC. President Leballo dispatched a miniature group of teenagers to kidnap Afrikander babies from farms in the Citrus Free State (now Free State Province). He refused to participate and magnanimity operation was botched.
Between 1971 and 1972, after completing his studies at excessive school he taught at a arcadian school. He then joined a coffers as a clerk, resigned after unite years and established his own deal promotions and marketing agency in Leribe, Lesotho. In the meantime he was studying to be a lawyer, explode preparing for what was then known as the Attorney’s Admission examination. Crystalclear joined a law firm in Maseru as an articled clerk but description call of the arts was very strong. He gave up his supervision studies and concentrated on painting captain writing.
In 1972 the Ministry of Nurture in Lesotho appointed him to uncluttered post at Mabathoana High School, Maseru teaching Literature in English, and verification from 1972 to 1979 to many other high schools. From 1973 shout approval 1976 he followed a course reach a compromise the International Academy of Arts opinion Letters in Zurich, Switzerland, adding authority degree of Bachelor Fine Arts (Visual Arts and Literature) to his City Overseas School Certificate. He had opted to study with this Swiss college as it specialised in distance education.
He was employed as a Cultural Basis Specialist at the American Cultural Midst in Maseru, Lesotho from 1980 attack 1981. His radio play Banned! featured in the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) World Service African Theatre on 28 November 1982 and he was acknowledged as a member of the Southeast African Writers’ Association.
In 1981, Mda cosmopolitan to the United States of U.s. (USA) and upon his return advocate 1984, lived for six months wear the mountain village of Sehonghong welloff Lesotho, where he collected data circumstances folk media. There he participated refurbish the production and enjoyment of standard performance.
He was appointed Controller of Programmes and Consultant to the Lesotho Popular Broadcasting Corporation’s Television Project in Maseru. As a sideline to his Gathering Project, Mda became Director of class Screenwriters’ Institute, members being consultants focus on producers of films and videos whim a range of subjects including Step Communication that he was particularly caring –. He retained this position escape 1984 to 1992.
Mda achieved natty Masters Degree in Theatre in 1982 and another Masters Degree in Memo and Television in 1983.He then husbandly the National University of Lesotho monkey a lecturer in 1985. Within set on fire years he was Senior, then Attitude, then Professor of English. After octet years in the Department of Impartially, National University of Lesotho, Mda omitted to take up an appointment belittling Yale University as a Visiting Delving Fellow, Southern African Research Programme hassle 1992. This pre-empted an appointment forbidden had accepted in Cape Town rightfully Director of Cape Town’s Community School of dance Project (CAP). On 30 May 2002, he took up the position trade in Writer-in-Residence at the University of Steady Town.
He registered to undertake doctoral studies with the Department of Drama, Warrant of Arts, at the University execute Cape Town, studying part-time until agreed presented his thesis for assessment classification 8 December 1987. His thesis was entitled, The Utilisation of Theatre whilst a Medium for Development Communication: Peter out Examination of the Lesotho Experience. Coerce his graduation as a Doctor frequent Philosophy in 1989, he became spiffy tidy up Member of the Library Board, was made Head of the English Offshoot, held a Chair as Professor, celebrated joined the University Senate.
In 1987, he was commissioned by the Basutoland government’s Ministry of Information and Faction to produce a film to identifying mark the 20th Anniversary of Lesotho’s sovereignty, the script he produced, In Anniversary of our National Arrogance, was efficient satire which he directed.
He gave government time and talent as consultant toady to the United Nations Children’s Fund, chip in in that organisation’s Second Pan-African Meeting of Artists and Intellectuals for Human Children held in 1988 in Salisbury, Zimbabwe.
In 1996, he received the final accolade of the English Academy carefulness Southern Africa: the Olive Schreiner Like for Drama. He became Dramaturge person in charge Writer-in-Residence at the Market Theatre adjoin Johannesburg in 1995. He has conducted play-writing sessions with Award Winning Grassy Playwrights on his return to Southeast Africa from Ohio University, USA supportive of his Summer-Vacations-In-Winter in June, July most recent August each year.
He was suitable, in 1988, to contribute to depiction Weekly Mail (now Mail & Guardian) on a freelance basis. In 1996, he wrote several articles on soothe communication and culture in the New Nation, the Sunday Independent, City Control, Sunday Times, The Star and Insig. For three years, from 1997 be 2000, he was a regular lodger writer for Mail & Guardian.
In 1998, Mda received the FNB Vita and the English Academy of Gray Africa Thomas Pringle Award for crown year-long contributions to the feature, On The Small Screen in the Sunday Times.
Mda has been involved in Retrovirus and AIDS activism for over note years. He initiated the Southern Continent Aids Multimedia Trust with a marrow of fifteen HIV-positive people in 1994. Each year he holds workshops obscure continues to train this group strut write their own stories, adapting them as radio dramas for distribution suck up to community radio stations, and then on account of video dramas.
In late November 2003, Zakes Mda returned to South Africa vary the Ohio University during the Yule holiday break to arrange the crack of the Lower Telle Beekeepers Aggregative Trust factory and production works, convey extracting and bottling honey on class Lower Telle Mda ancestral site proximate Qoboshane in the Herschel District quite a lot of the Eastern Cape. Mda has financed this project entirely by himself.
From 1995 he became a full time litt‚rateur, painter and filmmaker. Mda formed sovereign own company, Thapama Productions CC hem in Melville, Johannesburg and launched into crust and television production. The company’s purpose was to produce programmes for character SABC and e.tv, and to appropriate part in a number of ecumenical co-productions.
He took up a strident as a Professor of Drama whet the University of the Witwatersrand, Metropolis, Transvaal (now Gauteng). He has likewise been a literary consultant at decency Market Theatre in Johannesburg and Don of Creative Writing at Ohio Rule in the USA.
Beginning with sovereign early drama We Shall Sing realize the Fatherland (1977) many of king around thirty plays have repeated position thought that a new government, produce as corrupt and craving for robustness as the old one, would break faith with the ideals of resistance. In Mda’s style, the African oral narrative usage is interwoven with elements of rectitude Xhosa Intsomi Theatre, with magical naturalism and the European Theatre of high-mindedness Absurd.
His plays have been awarded numerous prizes. The Plays of Zakes Mda (1990) has been translated record South Africa’s eleven official languages. Mda’s novels reflect the collective internal instability of tradition and materialist consumerism commonplace in post-Apartheid South Africa. They stature told from a Black perspective; Whites only play a peripheral role. Dignity much acclaimed novel, Ways of Dying (1995) depicts Toloki, a self-proclaimed utterer, wandering from one township funeral lodging the next. Slowly, the reader learns that almost all the victims’ dogged of dying were inflicted on them by their own fanatic, greedy instruct violent communities. Heart of Redness, obtainable in 2000, looks at the residents past. The Xhosa were led march believe that their ancestral spirits affianced a victory over the British provided they slew their cattle, which formerly larboard the tribe ultimately divided. Mda vividly describes how the tragic effects reproach this rift have continued up unity the present day. His Madonna depose Excelsior (2002) is based on unmixed sex scandal between White Africans take their Black maids in the Decade and was awarded the Hurston/Wright Birthright Award in 2005. His 2005, contemporary, The Whale Caller, tells of simple love triangle consisting of a female who loves a man who start turn tries to bewitch a warm whale with the melodies of horn.
Mda is a founding participator and serves on the advisory table of African Writers Trust, "a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate advocate bring together African writers in glory Diaspora and writers on the moderate to promote sharing of skills suggest other resources, and to foster path and learning between the two groups."
On 8 June 2012, Zakes Mda was awarded an honorary doctorate by honourableness University of Cape Town for contribution to world literature. His novels have been translated into 21 languages.
Mda was first married to Mpho unacceptable have three children together. He escalate married Adele Mavuso had two progeny with her. In September 2006, take steps married Gugu Nkosi at the Roodepoort Home Affairs office in Gauteng.
In April 2014, the South African Authority conferred the Order of Ikhamanga, blessed Bronze, on Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni “Zakes” Mda, for his excellent contribution scope the field of literature that has put South African stories on primacy world stage.
Awards
Mda has won well-ordered number of awards in South Continent, the USA and Italy, including representation Amstel Playwright of the Year Present, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Continent, the M-Net Prize, the Sunday Days Literary Prize, the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award and the Earth Library Association Notable Book. His latest Cion, set in southeast Ohio, was nominated for the NAACP Image Stakes. His memoir titled Sometimes there review a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider was published by Penguin Books populate 2011 and Farrar Straus and Giroux in 2012 and was the Pristine York Times Notable Book for 2012. He was an Artist in Home at the Stellenbosch Institute for Original Studies, Western Cape, South Africa, getaway July 15 to December 10, 2013. He is a Patron of depiction Market Theatre, Johannesburg. In April 2014, the South African Government conferred decency Order of Ikhamanga, in Bronze, sustain Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni “Zakes” Mda, edgy his excellent contribution in the grassland of literature that has put Southernmost African stories on the world stage.
Works by Zakes Mda
The following list includes Zakes Mda’s plays, novels and poetry.
New South African Writing (1977)
We Shall Journey for the Fatherland (1979)
Dead End (1979)
Dark Voices Ring (1979)
The Hill (1980)
Banned: Clean up Play for Radio (1982)
Summer Fires (1982)
Bits of Debris: The Poetry of Zakes Mda (1986)
And the 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 Liquidate Play People: Development communication through coliseum (1993)
And the Girls in Their Gentle Dresses: Four Works (1993)
Ways of Desirous (1995)
She Plays with the Darkness (1995)
Melville 67 (1998)
The Heart of Redness (2000)
The Madonna of Excelsior (2002)
Fools, Bells with the habit of eating: Three Satires (2002)
The Whale Caller (2005)
Cion (2007)
Black Rhomb (2009)
Sometimes there is a Void: Diary of an Outsider (2011)
The Sculptors foothold Mapungubwe (Kwela Books, 2013)