Heinrich Stephen Samuel Willemse (born 18 September 1957,

Ladismith Ladismith is a town and agricultural centre in the western Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape province. Geography It is situated adjacent to a series of fertile, irrigated valleys, at an elevation of 550 m above sea level, at ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

) is a South African academic, literary critic, activist and author. He currently serves as

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in the Department of

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 ...

at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He was the former editor-in-chief of the African literary journal '' Tydskrif vir Letterkunde'' (Journal for Literature). As a young academic, Willemse played an active role in the opposition of

apartheid 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 ...

, and along with other Afrikaans authors - including André Brink,

Breyten Breytenbach Breyten Breytenbach (; born 16 September 1939) is a South African writer, poet and painter known for his opposition to apartheid, and consequent imprisonment by the South African government. He is informally considered as the national poet lau ...

and

Etienne van Heerden Etienne van Heerden, born 3 December 1954, is a South African author. Biography Van Heerden was born in 1954, six years after the official advent of apartheid. His mother was an English speaking mathematics teacher. His father, an Afrikaans speak ...

- attended the historical Victoria Falls Writers’ Conference in 1989, where various Afrikaans intellectuals met with banned South African authors and members of the

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

Biography

Willemse grew up in the Cape Province in South Africa where he completed his school education at Esselen Park High in 1975. He thereafter completed his

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...

in law at the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

(UWC) in Bellville, South Africa, in 1978. While completing his honours degree in Afrikaans

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

at the same institution in 1979, Willemse worked as a legal councillor in UWC’s legal aid clinic.

Career

Willemse went on to complete both his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

(in 1984) and

DLitt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

(in 1996) in the Department of Afrikaans and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

at the University of the Western Cape. Since he received his master's degree, Willemse has lectured at various South African and international universities, including

El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Mex ...

(

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

), 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 ...

(

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

) and the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

(

). During 2004 and 2005 he also served as Fulbright professor and scholar at

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

(

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, US). In 1985 he was honorary

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in writing at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in the United States. In 2002 he completed his MBL degree at the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

(UNISA). From 2000 to 2009 Willemse served as head of the Department of Afrikaans at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Although he stepped down from this position recently (succeeded by Willie Burger, former head of the Department of Afrikaans at the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the ...

), Willemse is still professor of

Afrikaans literature Afrikaans literature is literature written in Afrikaans. Afrikaans is the daughter language of 17th-century Dutch and is spoken by the majority of people in the Western Cape of South Africa and among Afrikaners and Coloured South Africans in oth ...

and media studies, teaching both

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

and graduate courses. Willemse is a former president of ISOLA (The International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa). He was editor-in-chief of the journal ''Tydskrif vir Letterkunde'' (Journal for Literature): a journal for African literature from 2003 until 2019. Besides his

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

activities, he also currently serves on the board of directors of the South Africa-based multinational

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

company

Naspers Naspers Limited is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town, with interests in online retail, publishing and venture capital investment. Naspers' principal shareholder is its ...

.http://www.naspers.com/index.cfm?content=2655

Publications

Willemse has published widely in academic journals and South African national newspapers. He is a regular contributor to ''LitNet'', an Afrikaans literary

e-zine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer mag ...

, and he has also authored and edited several works of literature.

Books

As editor

*''Die Trojaanse perd'' (1986, Taurus) *''Swart Afrikaanse skrywers'' (1986, University of the Western Cape Press) *''iQabane Labantu'' (Co-editor, 1989, Taurus) *''Die reis na Paternoster'' (Co-editor, 1997, University of the Western Cape Press) *''Die stukke wat ons sny'' (1999, Kwela) *''More than brothers: Peter Clarke and James Matthews at 70'' (2000, Kwela)

As author

*''Angsland'' (volume of poetry, 1981, Blac Publishers) *''Aan die ander kant'' (on black Afrikaans authors in the Afrikaans literature, 2007, Protea Boekhuis)

References

External links

Profile of Hein Willemse on Who's Who SATydskrif vir LetterkundeDepartment of Afrikaans, University of Pretoria

''LitNet'', Afrikaans literary e-zineISOLANaspers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willemse, Hein 1957 births Afrikaans-language writers Afrikaans literature Afrikaner anti-apartheid activists South African literary critics Living people South African activists South African poets Academic staff of the University of Pretoria International Writing Program alumni