Richard Moore Rive (1 March 1931 – 4 June 1989) was a South African writer and academic, who was from

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 ...

Biography

Rive was born on 1 March 1931 in Caledon Street in the working-class

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

residential area

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 ...

.Geoffrey V. Davis
''Voices of Justice and Reason''
Editions Rodopi, 2003, pp. 95-100. His father was African, and his mother was Coloured."Richard (Moore) Rive"
''Dictionary of Literary Biography''. Rive was given the latter classification under

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 ...

. Rive went to St Mark's Primary School and

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 ...

,Paul Frailey
"Richard Rive"
Blackpast.org, retrieved 13 August 2014. both in District Six. In 1951 he went to Hewat College of Education in

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

, where he qualified as a teacher. He was a prominent sportsman (a South African

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

champion while a student) and a school sports administrator. He acquired a

BA degree 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 ...

from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

in 1962. In 1963 he was given a scholarship organised by

Es'kia Mphahlele Es'kia Mphahlele (17 December 1919 – 27 October 2008) was a South African writer, educationist, artist and activist celebrated as the Father of African Humanism and one of the founding figures of modern African literature. He was given the ...

, the editor of ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'' magazine, in which Rive published some of his early writing. His first novel, ''Emergency'' was published in 1964. In 1965 Rive was awarded a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

. He earned an MA degree (1966) from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(1974). His doctoral thesis on

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, pacifist, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel ''The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed ...

would be published posthumously, in 1996. Rive was for many years Head of the English Department at Hewat College. He was a visiting professor at several overseas universities, including

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1987. He also delivered guest lectures at more than 50 universities on four continents. A firm believer in anti-racism, Rive decided to stay in his country with the hope of influencing its development there. He was stabbed to death at his home in Cape Town in 1989, when he was 58 years old.

Writing

Rive initially published his stories in South African magazines such as ''Drum'' and ''Fighting Talk''. His collection ''African Songs'' was published in 1963 by Seven Seas Books. He edited anthologies for

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 ...

African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an int ...

: the short story anthology ''Quartet'' (1963) - containing stories by

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) and a defendant in the Treason Trial, whose works helped characterise the movement against ...

, James Matthews,

Alf Wannenburgh Alfred John Wannenburgh III (2 December 1936 – 18 December 2010) was a South African people, South African author, journalist, conservationist, and anti-apartheid activist from Cape Town. His early political writings which began in 1961/62 cem ...

and Rive himself - and the prose anthology ''Modern African Prose'' (1964). His short story "The Bench", for which he won a prize, is still anthologised. "The Bench" takes the well known story of

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...

and sets it in South Africa. He also wrote three novels that were published in his lifetime. ''Emergency'' (1964) was set against the

Sharpeville massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of ...

. ''Buckingham Palace District Six'' was published in 1986 and turned into a musical by the

Baxter Theatre The Baxter Theatre Centre is a performing arts complex in Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. The Baxter, as it is often known, is part of the University of Cape Town; it is also the second largest performing arts complex in Cape ...

in Cape Town. Rive also published an autobiography entitled ''Writing Black'' in 1981. Rive's last novel, ''Emergency Continued'', was completed two weeks before his death.

Honours

On 23 August 2013, at the Aziz Hassim Literary Awards held in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, Rive and two other esteemed South African authors,

Ronnie Govender Sathiseelan Gurilingam "Ronnie" Govender (16 May 193429 April 2021) was a South African playwright, theatre director and activist known for his community theatre efforts. He was known as a pioneer of Indian South African theatre in the country ...

and

Don Mattera Donato Francisco Mattera (29 December 1935 – 18 July 2022), better known as Don Mattera, was a South African poet and author. Overview Born in 1935 in Western Native Township (now Westbury), Johannesburg, Union of South Africa, Mattera g ...

, were honoured for their contributions to the fight against apartheid through literature. The authors all reflected on non-racial enclaves in South Africa during that era: Rive focused on District Six, Govender on

Cato Manor Cato Manor is a working-class area located from the city centre of Durban, South Africa. It was formed when Indian market gardeners came to settle in the area some time after it was given to George Christopher Cato in 1865, who was the first m ...

, and Mattera on

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "apart ...

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Emergency'' (1964) * ''Buckingham Palace District Six'' (1986) * ''Writing Black'' (1981) * ''Emergency Continued'' (1991)

References

External links

"Richard Rive"
South African History Online * Shaun Viljoen
"Richard Rive: A Skewed Biography"
PhD thesis,

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rive, Richard Moore 1989 deaths 1931 births South African male short story writers South African short story writers South African male novelists South African murder victims People murdered in South Africa South African LGBT writers 20th-century South African novelists 20th-century short story writers 20th-century South African male writers Alumni of Trafalgar High School (Cape Town) 20th-century LGBT people