Rozena Maart (born 1962) is a
South African writer, and professor, currently living in Durban. She is the Director for the Centre for Critical Research on Race and Identity. She has been recognized for her writing, and for her work opposing
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 violence against women. She has lectured throughout Canada, the United States and many parts of the world.
Biography
She was born in
District Six, Cape Town
District Six (Afrikaans ''Distrik Ses'') is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime.
The area of District Six is now ...
, South Africa, the old slave quarter of Cape Town. Her family was forcibly removed from District Six in 1973 as a result of the government's Forced Removal Act. In 1987 when she was 24, Maart was nominated for the "Woman of the Year" award hosted in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, for her work opposing violence against women and for starting, with four women, the first Black feminist organization in Cape Town, Women Against Repression (WAR).
She moved to Canada in 1989 and published her first book of poetry in 1990, ''Talk About It!''. She won the
Journey Prize The Journey Prize (officially called The Writers' Trust of Canada McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize) is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short story published by a ...
in 1992 for her short story "No Rosa, No District Six", which later appeared in her debut short story collection "Rosa's District Six." She is the author of several books of poetry, short fiction, non-fiction and novels, most recently the novel ''The Writing Circle'', published in 2007 (
TSAR Publications
TSAR Publications is a Toronto-based nonprofit book publisher focusing on multicultural literature, particularly Canadian authors and subject matter.
TSAR Publications began as the literary journal ''The Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abro ...
), which is being made into a feature film. ''Rosa's District Six'' made the weekly bestseller list in Canada in 2006 and the HOMEBRU 2006 list in South Africa.
She has a PhD from the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, U.K. (1993–1996) Centre for Cultural Studies.
Her work examines relationships between and among Political Philosophy, Black Consciousness, Derrida and Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, Feminist
Theory, and Critical Theories of race and racism.
Maart recently served on the UNESCO Scientific Committee for the South-South Philosophical Dialogues, which produced a Philosophical textbook
covering four regions—Africa, Asia, South and Central America and the Arab region—in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Arabic)
In 2010 The Writing Circle was noted as one of the ten top books in South African literature in her homeland, South Africa and nominated by the African Studies Association for the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize
References
External links
Interview with Rozena Maart at Minister FaustRozena Maart's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maart, Rozena
1962 births
Living people
South African women poets
South African women novelists
Canadian women poets
Canadian women novelists
Feminist studies scholars
Writers from Cape Town
Cape Coloureds
South African people of Dutch descent
South African emigrants to Canada
20th-century Canadian novelists
21st-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian poets
21st-century Canadian poets
Canadian women short story writers
20th-century Canadian women writers
21st-century Canadian women writers
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
20th-century Canadian short story writers
21st-century Canadian short story writers