Sindiwe Magona (born 27 August 1943) is a South African writer.

Early life

Magona is a native of the former

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

region, South Africa. She grew up in

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa and is 15 km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride''. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s. History The ...

, a

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 ...

township, and worked as a

domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes c ...

while completing her secondary education by correspondence. Magona later graduated from 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 ...

and earned her Master of Science degree in Organisational Social Work 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 ...

."About Sindiwe Magona"
official website.

Career

She starred as Singisa in the

isiXhosa Xhosa (, ) also isiXhosa as an endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a secon ...

classic drama '' Ityala Lamawele''. She worked in various capacities for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

for more than 20 years, retiring in 2003."Sindiwe Magona"
South African History Online. In the 2013 computer-animated adventure comedy film '' Khumba'' she was the voice actor for the character Gemsbok Healer. She is Writer-in-Residence 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 ...

and has been a visiting Professor working at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

Author

Magona published two autobiographies: ''To My Children's Children'' and ''Forced To Grow''; two collections of short stories: ''Living Loving and Lying Awake at Night'' and ''Push-Push and Other Stories''; and four novels: ''Mother to Mother'', ''Beauty's Gift'', ''Life is a Hard but Beautiful Thing'', and ''Chasing Tails of My Father's Cattle!'' She published her autobiography, ''To My Children's Children'', in 1990. In 1998, she published '' Mother to Mother'', a fictionalized account of the Amy Biehl killing, which she adapted into a play. This was performed at the Baxter Theatre complex in late 2009 and the film rights were acquired by Type A Films in 2003. She wrote

autobiographies An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

collections. Her novel ''Beauty's Gift'' was shortlisted for the 2009

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

Best Book, Africa Region. In 2009, ''Please, Take Photographs'', her first collection of poems, was published. Her other works include ''Please, take Photographs!'' a book of poetry (Modjaji Books, 2009) and ''Awam Ngqo!'' a book of short stories (NASOU 2009) and prescribed for Grade 8; ''Twelve Books of Folktales'' – written in both English and

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

; translated into isiZulu;

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zon ...

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 ...

;

Sesotho Sotho () or Sesotho () or Southern Sotho is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South Africa (particularly the Free ...

; Sepedi; and published in September 2014 – David Philip; ''Skin We In'', in collaboration with scientist Nina Jablonksy and illustrator Lynn Feldman – a book about skin colour and race. Her children's books include ''The Best Meal Ever'' and ''Life is a hard but beautiful thing:'' English, Afrikaans. She created the first series for children in isiXhosa: ''Sigalelekile: 48 books'' (Via Afrika). She contributed more than twenty books in another series, ''Siyakhula'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

). Compilation: ''You Pay For The View'' – Maskew Miller Longman (2009) With the Gugulethu Writers' Group she created ''Umthi ngamnye unentlaka yawo'' – short stories (Xhosa Realities, 2007); ''UNobanzi'' (Oxford University Press, 2010); ''UNyana weSizwe'' 2009 and 2010; and a series of 24 books (Igugu), from her workshop with students at the University of the Western Cape (David Philip Publishers, 2015). Two books of poetry, UWC students, will be published in isiXhosa.

Works

* 1990 : ''To My Children's Children'' * 1991 : ''Living, Loving and Lying Awake at Night'' * 1992 : ''Forced to Grow'' * 1996 : ''Push Push'' * 1998 : '' Mother to Mother'' * 2006 : ''The Best Meal Ever!'' * 2008 : ''Beauty's Gift'' * 2009 : ''Please, Take Photographs'' * 2014 : ''The Woman on the Moon'' * 2016 : ''Chasing The Tails of My Father's Castle'' * 2016 : ''Books and Bricks'' * 2016 : ''Vukani'' * 2016 : ''The Ugly Duckling'' * 2016 : ''From Robben Island to Bishopscourt'' * 2016 : ''Clicking with Xhosa: A Xhosa Phrasebook''

Recognition

* Grinzane Award (2007) for writing that addresses social concerns * Molteno Gold Medal (2007) for promoting Xhosa culture and language * Lifetime Achievement Award (2007) for her contribution to South African literature *

Order of iKhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is granted by the President of South Africa for achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports (which were initially recognised b ...

(2011) Presidential Award and the highest such award in South Africa * Mbokodo Award (2012), joint winner with Nadine Gordimer"Winners of the Inaugural 2012 Mbokodos"
Mbokodo Awards

References

External links

Sindiwe Magona
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Magona, Sindiwe 1943 births 21st-century South African novelists Columbia University School of Social Work alumni Living people Recipients of the Molteno medal Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga South African autobiographers South African short story writers South African women poets South African women short story writers University of South Africa alumni Women autobiographers