Karin Schimke (born 1968) is a South African writer. She has won awards for her

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and literary translations. She works as a writer and editor.

Early life

Karin Schimke was born in1968 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, South Africa to a German father and Afrikaans mother. She attended Clapham High School in Queenswood before going on to study languages 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 ...

. She obtained a postgraduate degree in Journalism from 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 ...

and started her writing career in 1991, working as a bilingual news reporter at Die Eikestadnuus, an award-winning community newspaper in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

. She started working full-time as a reporter for The Argus the following year. She spent two years working at The Star in Johannesburg but has spent most of her adult life in Cape Town.

Career

Writing

Schimke worked at some of South Africa's largest newspapers including The Argus,

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and The Cape Times, as a political reporter, before going freelance in 2000. She returned to The Cape Times for five years as the freelance books page editor from 2010 to 2015. Schimke has contributed to a broad range of newspapers and magazines including ''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular cultu ...

'', ''

Daily Maverick ''Daily Maverick'' is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. I ...

''., ''The Sunday Times'', ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'', ''Visi'',

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

Financial Mail ''Financial Mail'' (or the ''FM'', as it is also known), is a South African business publication focused on reaching the country's leading business people. This weekly publication, which was launched in 1959, underwent a major "look and feel" ch ...

Business Day A business day means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, or any day which is a legal holiday or any day on which banking institutions are authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close. The definition of a business day ...

, African Decisions, The Argus, The Star, The Cape Times,

Rapport Rapport () is a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned are "in sync" with each other, understand each other's feelings or ideas, and communicate smoothly. The word stems from the French verb which means liter ...

, Fair Lady, Real Simple, High Life and Psychologies. She was a humour columnist for Femina magazine, as well as for Parent24 In 2006, Schimke co-authored the bestselling, ''Fabulously 40 and beyond: coming into your power and embracing change'', with

Margie Orford Margie Orford (born 30 September 1964) is a South African journalist, film director and author of crime fiction, children's fiction, non-fiction and school text books. Biography Orford was born in London and grew up in Namibia and South Africa. ...

and her latest book, ''The Karen Book of Rules (NB Publishers)'' with comedy writer Karen Jeynes, was released in September 2020.

Poetry

Schimke's debut poetry collection, ''Bare & Breaking'' (

Modjaji Books Modjaji Books is a South African small-scale independent publisher. Started in 2007 by Colleen Higgs, it is an independent press that publishes the writings of Southern African women. Many Modjaji titles have gone on to be nominated for and to wi ...

), was published in 2012. The collection won the

Ingrid Jonker Prize The Ingrid Jonker Prize is a literary prize for the best debut work of Afrikaans or English poetry. It was instituted in honor of Ingrid Jonker after her death in 1965. The yearly prize, consisting of R10,000 and a medal, is awarded alternately to ...

in 2014. Her second volume, Navigate (

), was published in 2017. She has performed her own poetry at the Woordfees,

Badilisha Poetry X-Change Badilisha Poetry X-Change is a platform dedicated to showcasing poetry from Africa and the African Diaspora. The project came out of recognising the lack of documentation of African poets, on the African continent and in the rest of the world. ...

, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefee and poetry-on-the-road in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Germany, in various podcasts and in radio interviews. Her work has been published in New Coin, New Contrast, Stanzas and Carapace and has been featured in Paris Lit Up magazine, The Atlanta Review, Mslexia, as well as a collection of poetry from South Africa translated into German, called Ankunft eines weiteren Tages, published by Afrika Wunderhorn.

Translations

In 2019, Schimke, together with Leon de Kock, won the 2019 Sol Plaatje Translation Award for Flame in the Snow, the English translation of Vlam in die Sneeu, a collection of love letters written in the 1960s between novelist

André Brink André Philippus Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) was a South African novelist, essayist and poet. He wrote in both Afrikaans and English and taught English at the University of Cape Town. In the 1960s Brink, Ingrid Jonker, Etienne Lerou ...

and poet

Ingrid Jonker Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name) * Ingrid (record label), and artist collective * Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones * 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid * InGrid, the grid computing project ...

. She regularly translates the work of the well-known Afrikaans thriller writer Irma Venter.

Editor

Schimke edited ''Open'' ( Oshun, Struik, 2008) a collection of women's erotic writing by some of South Africa's top female writers. She has edited the work of well-known South African authors like Martin Steyn, Chanette Paul, Dov Fedler and Bronwyn Davids

Writing coach

Schimke is a writing coach, developmental editor, course designer and mentor.

Awards and honours

* Sol Plaatje Translation Award, 2019 for Flame in the Snow, an English translation of Vlam in die Sneeu. With Leon De Kock. *

South African Literary Awards The South African Literary Awards (SALA) have been awarded annually since 2005 to exceptional South African writers. They "pay tribute to South African writers who have distinguished themselves as ground-breaking producers and creators of litera ...

, Translation Award, 2016 for Flame in the Snow: The Love Letters of Andre Brink & Ingrid Jonker. * Ingrid Jonker Award for Poetry, 2014 for her debut collection, Bare and Breaking. * Finalist in

, 2013 * Finalist in Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award, 2013 * Winner of th
Sylt Foundation
Writer's Retreat in Sylt, Germany, 2013

Selected works

Poetry

* ''Bare & Breaking'' ( Modjaji Books 2012): * ''Navigate'' (Modjaji Books 2017): .

Non-fiction books

* ''Fabulously 40 and Beyond: Coming into Your Power and Embracing Change'' (With Margie Orford - 30 September 2006). Spearhead P. . * ''The Karen Book of Rules'' with Karen Jeynes, 2020 * ''Contraception and Prevention'' ( Pearson Education 2011) * ''The Internet'' ( Pearson Education 2011)

Journalist

‘We are all petrified.’ An interview with Robert A. Hamblin. Daily Maverick June 2021

Editor

* ''Open: An Erotic Anthology by South African Women Writers'' (Oshun 2008).

Contributor

* ''Difficult to Explain'' (Modjaji Books 2010) * ''Living While Feminist: Our Bodies, Our Truths'' (NB Publishers).

Translation

* ''Flame in the Snow: The Love Letters of Andre P.Brink and Ingrid Jonker'' ( Penguin Random House 2017)

References

External links

Karin Schimke blogKarin Schimke poetry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schimke, Karin 21st-century South African poets South African women poets 21st-century South African writers 21st-century South African women writers South African non-fiction writers 1968 births Living people