Alex La Guma (20 February 1924 – 11 October 1985) was a South African

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

, leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO) and a defendant in the

Treason Trial The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not gu ...

, whose works helped characterise the movement against the

apartheid era Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in South Africa. La Guma's vivid style, distinctive dialogue, and realistic, sympathetic portrayal of oppressed groups have made him one of the most notable

South African writers South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

of the 20th century. La Guma was awarded the 1969

Lotus Prize for Literature The Lotus Prize for Literature (also known as Lotus International Reward for Literature or The Lotus Prize for African and Asian Literature) is a literary award presented annually to African and Asian authors by the Afro-Asian Writers' Associat ...

Biography

La Guma was born in District Six,

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 ...

, South Africa. He was the son of James La Guma, a leading figure in both the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union and the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

. La Guma attended

Trafalgar High School , motto_translation = As much as I am able , established = , type = Government-funded co-educational secondary day school , pushpin_map = Australia Victoria , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize = 240 ...

District Six District Six (Afrikaans ''Distrik Ses'') is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were History of South Africa in the Apartheid era#Forced removal, forcibly removed during the 1970s ...

in Cape Town.Obituary
''Sechaba'', January 1986. Retrieved 13 August 2014. After graduating from a technical school in 1945, he was an active member of the Plant Workers Union of the Metal Box Company. He was fired after organizing a strike, and he became active in politics, joining the Young Communists League in 1947 and the

in 1948. La Guma stood against the leader of the African People's Organisation, Dr Abdullah Abdurahman for a seat on the City Council in September 1939, but was beaten by 1083 votes to 263. The Standard newspaper headlined the story: "Dr A. swamps La Guma."Cape Standard, 12 September 1939. In 1956 he helped organise the South Africa representatives who drew up the Freedom Charter, and consequently he was one of the 156 accused at the

Treason Trials The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not gu ...

that same year. He published his first short story, "Nocturn", in 1957. In 1960 he began writing for ''

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

'', a progressive newspaper, and in 1962 he was placed under house arrest. Before his five-year sentence could elapse, A No Trial Act was passed and he and his wife were put into solitary confinement. On their release from prison, they returned to house arrest. He, along with his wife Blanche and their two children, went into exile to the UK in 1966. La Guma spent the rest of his life in exile. In 1984 he was appointed Officer of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture. He was chief representative of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

in the Caribbean at the time of his death from a heart attack in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, on 11 October 1985. Although La Guma was an inspiration of and inspired by the growing resistance to apartheid, notably the

Black Consciousness Movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...

, his connection to these groups was indirect.

Notable works

La Guma's works include the following: *''A Walk in the Night and Other Stories'' (1962), Ibadan, Nigeria:

Mbari The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a private, non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California. MBARI was founded in 1987 by David Packard, and is primarily funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation ...

. Featuring: 1) "A Walk in the Night"; 2) "Tattoo Marks and Nails"; 3) "At the Portagee's"; 4) "The Gladiators"; 5) "Blankets"; 6) "A Matter of Taste"; 7) "The Lemon Orchard" *'' And a Threefold Cord'' (1964), (East) Berlin, GDR: Seven Seas Publishers. *''Quartet: Four Voices from South Africa'' (1963), London: Heinemann. Stories by Alex La Guma, James Matthews, Richard Rive, and Alf Wannenburgh. Featuring: 1) "Out of Darkness"; 2) "Slipper Satin"; 3) "A Glass of Wine"; 4) "Nocturne" by La Guma. *''

The Stone-Country ''The Stone-Country'' is a 1967 novel by South African novelist Alex La Guma. The novel is set in a prison, and explores how one prisoner inspires others to pursue anti-apartheid politics. It was the last novel La Guma was able to write before ...

'' (1967), (East) Berlin, GDR: Seven Seas Publishers. *''

In the Fog of the Seasons' End ''In the Fog of the Seasons' End'' is a 1972 novel by South African novelist Alex La Guma. Like many of La Guma's other novels, it is focused on challenging the social systems of apartheid in South Africa. The main character in the novel, Beukes, ...

'' (1972), London:

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

. *''

A Soviet Journey ''A Soviet Journey'' is a 1978 travelogue by South African socialist Alex La Guma. Writing in the early 90s, critic Roger Field described the book as one of the under examined works from La Guma's corpus, because of his reputation as a fiction wr ...

'' (1978), Moscow:

Progress Publishers Progress Publishers was a Moscow-based Soviet publisher founded in 1931. Publishing program Progress Publishers published books in a variety of languages: Russian, English, and many other European and Asian languages. They issued many scientific b ...

. *''

Time of the Butcherbird ''Time of the Butcherbird'' is the final novel by South African novelist Alex La Guma Alex La Guma (20 February 1924 – 11 October 1985) was a South African novelist, leader of the South African Coloured People's Organisation (SACPO) a ...

'' (1979), London: Heinemann.

References

External links

Alex La Guma biography
from South African History Online
"Language games, Alex La Guma's fiction, and the new post-apartheid reality for the South African writer"
– analysis of La Guma's contributions against South African apartheid
"Alex La Guma Gains Lotus Prize"
– news article from 1971, with photograph {{DEFAULTSORT:La Guma, Alex 1924 births 1985 deaths Writers from Cape Town Cape Coloureds Members of the South African Communist Party Members of the African National Congress Anti-apartheid activists Marxist writers South African journalists South African male novelists People acquitted of treason South African prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of South Africa 20th-century South African novelists Alumni of Trafalgar High School (Cape Town) 20th-century journalists

Biography

Notable works

References

Further reading

External links