André Brink

The following review of the Groot Verseboek by Riana Scheepers appeared last Monday in Die Burger.

Fyn net van woord wýd gespan in ‘Verseboek’

Daar is ’n paar soorte mense wat ­elke nuwe en belangwekkende bloem­lesing, soos die Groot Verseboek inderdaad is, met gespitste aandag lees.

Die eerste – en angstigste – ­lesers, is diegene wat direk betrokke is by die bundel, digters groot en klein (iemand soos ek). Hierdie digters, dié wat nog leef, lees hul eerste desperate lees sommer net daar in die boekwinkel, om te kyk hóéveel gedigte, en wátter gedigte uit hul weergalose oeuvre in die Groot Kanon op­geneem is.

Hierdie lesers se ingenomendheid of teleurstelling met die bloemleser se keuse bepaal gewoonlik hul uitspraak oor die bloemlesing se gehalte. Beslaan die skrywer se gedigte veelvuldige bladsye, nee kyk, dan is dit ’n ­wonderlike bundel en die samesteller ’n mens met ’n indrukwekkende letterkundige kwosiënt. As die opname maar skraal is, ’n ­enkele, benerige gediggie of selfs net ’n koeplet uit ’n nuwe dig­bundel . . . nou, ja, dan is die samesteller ’n charlatan wat geen ­aanvoeling het vir die fyn net van die woord nie.

Hierdie resensie is nie vir digters nie, hulle weet reeds alles.

Die tweede falanks lesers van bloemlesings is letterkundiges en akademici (iemand soos ek). Hulle is die wyse manne en vroue met letterkundige grade en die jare­lange sweet van seminare, studeerkamers en studente-lering. Dit is hulle wat diep en innig lees en uitsprake maak oor die fyn en gevaarlike praktyk van samestelling.

To read on click here: “Fyn net van woord wýd gespan in ‘Verseboek’”

The latest edition of the Groot Verseboek was launched last Friday at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town.

The following interview about the anthology appeared in today’s edition of Die Burger: “Louise Viljoen gesels met André P. Brink”

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Join André for the launch of the latest edition of the Groot Verseboek, the ultimate anthology of Afrikaans poetry, at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town this Friday, 21 November 2008, at 6pm.

For more details click here.

…was a poem. It was recovered from the archives by Adinda Vermaak.

In die vlei

Daar onder in die vlei
Zoem, zoem ’n by -
En skoenlappers bont
Die vlieg daar rond
Om sap uit die blomme te suig.

Die voëltjies is daar
In klompies bymekaar,
Hulle vlieg en sing,
Bou nessies in ’n kring
Van stokkies, grassies en strooi.

Twiet, twiet, twieretwiet!
Fluit ’n vink in die riet.
O, kom saam met my
Na die voëls in die vlei,
Want dis vrolik, so vrolik daar!

Jongspan, 15 March 1946

The following excerpt comes from André’s introduction to Black Butterflies: Selected Poems by Ingrid Jonker, translated by Antjie Krog and André Brink:

“…And then she came in, small and quiet but tense like a coiled spring, her curly hair unruly, her dark eyes guarded but smouldering. The daughter of the would-be Chief Censor, Abraham Jonker. She was wearing tight-fitting green pants. She was smoking. Her bare feet were small and narrow and beautiful. And within a few hours the course of my life was changed utterly.”

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André and I have been abroad to attend the Salzburg Festival (visiting my family living in Austria) and to discover Poland, the country of my birth.

The travelling itself was wonderful (we were lucky to get three seats each on the KLM flights to and from Amsterdam, due to our frequent flyer status which is truly rewarding in many ways); the family welcoming; the walks along the Mattig in my tiny home village Geretsdorf in Upper Austria a real escape from the world; and Salzburg as charming as ever, but the Festspiele had some disappointments for us in store. (More on the topic to follow soon.)

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It was nice to escape the Cape’s wintry spell this weekend and attend the InniBos Arts Festival in Nelspruit, where the citrus trees are now bending under their delicious fruits.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and had the opportunity of seeing Chris Barnard’s latest play Die Twaalfuurwals, directed by Katinka Heyns, with Marius Weyers, Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Marcel van Heerden, Hanli Rolfs-Opperman and Rolanda Marais (who also stars in Binnelanders). Even though my Afrikaans is anything but perfect, the excellent performance and the fascinating storyline kept me glued to my seat.

The Boeke-Ontbyt was more of an audio-visual than a culinary feast (although the liver paté was rather nice) but the people certainly got their money’s worth in entertainment:

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