Sheila Cussons (9 August 1922 – 25 November 2004) was an

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 ...

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 ...

. She was born on the Moravia missionary station near

Piketberg Piketberg (also sometimes spelt Piquetberg in the past) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, located about 80 km east of Saldanha Bay. The original spelling of the name was "Piquetberg". The town is in the foothills of the Piketberg mounta ...

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

, and, after matriculating from

Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria (Colloquially known as Meisies Hoër) is a public, Afrikaans medium high school for girls situated in the suburb of Clydesdale in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the sister school o ...

, studied

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

. She was one of the most important poets in Afrikaans, besides an accomplished painter and artist. The poet D.J. Opperman was influential in her decision to write in Afrikaans, while

N. P. van Wyk Louw Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw (11 June 1906 in Sutherland, Cape Colony – 18 June 1970 in Johannesburg), almost universally known as N.P. van Wyk Louw, was an Afrikaans-language poet, playwright and scholar. He was the older brother of Afrikaan ...

maintained prolonged correspondence with her, which they both considered as beneficial to their work. Nevertheless, she always deemed herself to be a

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

in the first instance, and a poet second. Publishing 11 volumes of poetry during her lifetime, she received 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 ...

(1970), the

Eugène Marais Prize The Eugène Marais Prize is a South African literary prize awarded by the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns for a first or early publication in Afrikaans. In 1971 it was renamed after the Afrikaans poet and researcher Eugène Marais. ...

(1971), the WA Hofmeyr Prize three times (1972, 1982 and 1991), the CNA Prize (1981), the Louis Luyt Prize (1982), and the prestigious

Hertzog Prize The Hertzog Prize (or Hertzogprys) is an annual award given to Afrikaans writers by the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (South African Academy for the Sciences and Art), formerly the South African Academy for Language, Literature a ...

in 1983. She died in 2004 at the age of 82, at Nazareth House, a Catholic institution in

Vredehoek Vredehoek (Afrikaans: "corner of peace" or "peace corner") is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa located in the City Bowl, on the slopes of Table Mountain, between Devil's Peak Estate and Oranjezicht. The suburb was proclaimed after the first w ...

Volumes of poetry

* ''Plektrum'' (1970) ("Plectrum") * ''Die swart kombuis'' (1978) ("The black kitchen") * ''Verf en vlam'' (1978) ("Canvas and flame") * ''Donderdag of Woensdag'' (1978) ("Thursday or Wednesday") * ''Die skitterende wond'' (1979) ("The brilliant wound") * ''Die sagte sprong'' (1979) ("The soft pounce") * ''Die somerjood'' (1980) ("The summer jew") * ''Die woedende brood'' (1981) ("The angry loaf") * ''Omtoorvuur'' (1982) ("Transforming fire") * ''Verwikkelde lyn'' (1983) ("Complicated line") * ''Membraan'' (1984) ("Membrane") * ''Poems: a selection'' (1985) (A selection of poems translated by the poet herself) * ''Die heilige modder'' (1988) ("The sacred mud") * ''Die knetterende woord'' (1990) ("The sonorescent word") * n Engel deur my kop'' (1997) ("An angel through my mind")(A selection of Sheila Cussons' religious poems compiled by Amanda Botha) * ''Die asem wat ekstase is'' (2000) ("The breath that is ecstasy")(A selection of Sheila Cussons' non-religious poems compiled by Amanda Botha) * ''Versamelde gedigte'' (2006) ("Complete poems") * ''Teesuiker'' (1983) (Verwikkelnde lyne)

Fiction

* ''Gestaltes 1947'' (1982) ("Figures")

As translator

* ''Die vorm van die swaard en ander verhale'' (1981) ("The shape of the sword and other stories") (Cussons' translations of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges)

External links

Sheila Cussons (1922–2004) Sanlam ATKV LitNet Afrikaanse Album

Sheila Cussons: Die lyf as landskap

Die kunstenaarskap van Sheila Cussons, Amanda Botha, Litnet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cussons, Sheila University of Natal alumni South African women poets Afrikaner people 1922 births 2004 deaths Hertzog Prize winners for poetry 20th-century poets 20th-century South African women writers Afrikaans-language poets