George Henry Weideman (2 July 1947 – 27 August 2008) was a South African

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. Born in

Cradock, Eastern Cape Cradock is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, in the upper valley of the Great Fish River, by road northeast of Port Elizabeth. The town is the administrative seat of the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality in the Chris Hani ...

, he grew up between the

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

of the Eastern Cape and the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

. He matriculated from Namakwaland High School in

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm v ...

. At the age of nine, he was already interested in learning languages like Magyar (spoken in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

) and Icelandic, and by the age of thirteen he was already running the school newspaper. In June 1966, as a second-year

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

student at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

, he published his first collection of poetry entitled ''"Hondegaloppie"'' (lit. "dog gallop"), which contained verses about the Karoo, Boesmanland and

Namaqualand Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...

. ''"As die son kliplangs spring"'', published three years later, also contains material that is mostly about the landscape and nostalgia. In 1970, while he was teaching in

Fraserburg Fraserburg is a town in the Karoo region of South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is located in the Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality. The town has some of the coldest winters in South Africa. The nearest towns are Williston, Sutherland, Lo ...

, he published ''"Klein manifes van ’n reisiger"'' ("Little manifest of a traveller"), and in 1977, while teaching in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

, he published ''"Hoera, hoera die ysman"'' ("Hooray, hooray the iceman"). Poetry about love was included in these two: he married Celién Nel from Fraserburg in 1973 while he was staying in Kenhardt. They have two daughters, Melita and Siobhan. While staying in

South-West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

from 1978 until 1989, George completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

and published his first collection of short stories, ''"Tuin van klip en vuur"'' ("Garden of stone and fire"), as well as releasing another poetry collection, ''"Uit hierdie grys verblyf"'' ("From this grey existence"). Three of his dramas was performed by the

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

. His first book aimed at the youth, ''"Los my uit, paloekas!"'', received the silver Sanlam Prize in 1992, and ''"Die optog van die aftjoppers"'' received gold in 1994. The latter also received the highly acclaimed Scheepers Prize in 1995, as well as a nomination by the Children's Book Forum as IBBY Honour Book for the International Board on Books for Young People. In 1994 his second collection of short stories appeared, entitled ''"Die donker melk van daeraad"''. In 1997 he published n Staning onder sterre'', a collection of poetry; ''Nuwe stemme'', an omnibus of the works of eleven debut poets, which George arranged; and his first adult novel, ''Die onderskepper'' ("The Interceptor"), about a mysterious woman from the city. The latter won the 1998

W.A. Hofmeyr prize The Media24 Books Literary Awards (known before 2011 as the Via Afrika Awards, and before that as the Nasboek Literary Awards) are a group of five South African literary prizes awarded annually by Media24, the print-media arm of the South African m ...

and came second place in the ''De Kat'' novel competition. In 1998 ''"Pella lê ’n kruistog vêr"'', a selection from his previous collections, was published, as well as a youth novel, ''"Dana se jaar duisend"'', which again won the Sanlam prize for Youth literature. The novel ''"Draaijakkals"'' was published in October 1999. His radio drama, ''"Lig"'', won the third place in the RSG competition for 2000/2001. Until his retirement, George was a lecturer at the

Peninsula Technikon A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

, now part of the

Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Peninsula University of Technology, a university in Cape Town, South Africa, is the only university of technology in the Western Cape province, and is also the largest university in the province, with over 32,000 students. It was formed b ...

. On 17 July 2004 he received the first Sanlam prize for Afrikaans theatre. After a long struggle against cancer, Weideman died on 27 August 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weideman, George 1947 births 2008 deaths People from Cradock, Eastern Cape Afrikaans-language poets South African poets University of Pretoria alumni 20th-century poets