Albertha Magdalena Bouwer (16 March 1920 – 5 October 2010) was a South African

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

-writing journalist and author. She is best known for her series of children's stories about the experiences of a small girl called Alie growing up in the fictional location Rivierplaas in rural Free State. Late in life she published a novel for adults, ''Die afdraand van die dag is kil'' (The close of the day is cold, 1992), about two women in old age.

Life

Alba Bouwer was herself brought up on a farm in the Free State, and attended La Rochelle Girls' High School in

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

, and Huguenot University College in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. Most of her professional life was spent in literary and media circles in and around

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. Immediately after graduation Bouwer began work as a school teacher, but she left teaching to become editor of ''Huishouding'', a newly established women's magazine. From 1948 to 1950 she was a radio producer and presenter in the children's service of the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

, resigning in 1950 to take up an assistant editorship at the newly founded women's magazine ''

Sarie ''Sarie'' is a South African women's magazine, written in Afrikaans. It is published by Media24, and is their oldest publication for women, first published in 1949 under the title ''Sarie Marais''. Based in Cape Town, it is the most popular ...

'', where she remained for thirteen years. Her first and best known work of fiction, ''Stories van Rivierplaas'', originally appeared in serialised form in ''Sarie''. Like many of her stories, these were semi-autobiographical. She continued to produce stories, translations and compilations into the late 1980s, but gave up her career in journalism upon marriage in 1963. Bouwer's first husband was Hubert Coetzee (died 1969), a widower with two teenaged children from his previous marriage. Care for her stepchildren became Bouwer's first priority as wife and as widow. In 1975 she remarried with Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, a widower with five children from his previous marriage, and moved from the Boland to Riversdale.

Death

Since 1994 she lived in a retirement resort in

Somerset West Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottent ...

. On 5 October 2010 Alba Bouwer fell into a coma and died.

Awards and honours

Alba Bouwer was awarded the Scheepers Prize for Children's Literature in 1959 and again in 1965, and the C.P. Hoogenhout Award in 1961, 1971 and 1983. Since 1989 the South African Academy of Science and Arts has presented a triennial Alba Bouwer Prize for children's literature, named in her honour.

Publications

As author

*''Stories van Rivierplaas''. Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel, 1955. Illustrated by Katrine Harries *''Nuwe stories van Rivierplaas''. Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel, 1956. Illustrated by Katrine Harries *''Abdoltjie: ses verhaaltjies oor 'n Maleiertjie van die ou Kaap''. Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel, 1958. Illustrated by Katrine Harries *"Die avonture van die eerste Afrikaanse vrou wat geneesheer geword het", a profile of Petronella van Heerden (1887–1975), the first Afrikaans woman to qualify as a doctor, published in parts in ''

Sarie Marais "Sarie Marais" (also known as "My Sarie Marais", ) is a traditional South African folk song, created possibly during the First Anglo-Boer War (c. 1880) or (more likely) the Second Anglo-Boer War (ca. 1900). The tune was possibly taken from a song ...

'', April–July 1960.Cited in Annemarié van Niekerk, "A Woman Who Made Her Mark in History but Remained Marginalised in the Documents of History: Petronella van Heerden", ''Journal of Literary Studies'' 14:3 (1998), pp. 348–374. Availabl
online
Accessed 26 January 2008. *''Katrientjie van Keerweder''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1961. *''Stories van Ruyswyck''. Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel, 1963. *''Stories van Bergplaas''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1963. *n Hennetjie met kuikens''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1971. *''Vlieg, swaeltjie, vlieg ver''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1983. *''Die afdraand van die dag is kil''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1992. *''Alba Bouwer-omnibus''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1995. With the original illustrations by Katrine Harries. :Reissued 2007 under the title ''Rivierplaas: Stories van Rivierplaas, Nuwe Stories van Rivierplaas, Stories van Ruyswyck''.

As editor/compiler

*''Kom nader: bloemlesing uit die werk van M.E.R.'' Compiled by Alba Bouwer et al. Cape Town, 1965. *M.E.R., n Kosbare erfenis: briewe 1916–1975''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1977. Collected letters of Marie Elisabeth Rothmann (1875–1975), compiled by Alba Bouwer, Anna Rothmann and Rykie van Reenen.

As translator

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

, ''Rip van Winkel''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1965. (From English). Illustrated by Katrine Harries * Else Hueck-Dehio, ''Tippie se liefde''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1966. (From German) *

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

, ''Die leerling-towenaar''. 1968. (From German). *

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

, ''Winnie-die-Poeh''. Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1985. (From English) :Reissued 2007. .