Izak de Vries

Izak de Vries was born in Port Elizabeth in 1969, but the family moved a number of times. First stop was Johannesburg, then (the still tiny) West Coast fishing town Laaiplek and the picturesque De Doorns (where Izak published his first creative piece about the Karoo). Eventually they settled in Pietermaritzburg where he matriculated.

He was conscripted to the Army for two years and spent some of his time as the publisher of a small newsletter for 5 Signal's Regiment - otherwise doing as little as possible, which allowed him to study towards a year-long course in Economics at Unisa - a large distance education facility. (He scraped through!)

The following year he joined an NGO in Cape Town where he worked amongst vagrants, prostitutes and the ever-increasing number of street children pouring onto the streets Cape Town.

He returned to Pietermaritzburg in 1990 and completed his first degree there. He immediately joined an NGO that specialised in bridging the gaps between the racially divided South African communities. PW Botha has just been ousted in a bloodless putsch and FW de Klerk has just unbanned the ANC. The country was simmering and in KwaZulu-Natal, where Pietermaritzburg is situated, the National Party was pouring weapons and other resources into the hands of Gatcha Buthelezi's IFP - all in a bid to halt the popularity of the ANC.

In 1990 he completed his first course in creative writing under Dietlof van der Berg and in 1993 he was awarded the M-Net Scholarship for Creative Writing, which saw him packing his bags for Rhodes University, in Grahamstown, where he studied under author Etienne van Heerden.

At the end of 1994 he married Elma, a medical doctor.

De Vries taught at the University of Venda before moving to Cape Town. Today he is a publisher of schoolbooks and the father of a very busy son. He holds a Master's Degree from the University of Cape Town.

(Izak sê: "Dis lyk onnodig om al bogenoemde in Afrikaans te vertaal, aangesien al my Afrikaanse lesers Engels kan lees. Lees maar liewer my boeke - mens leer min oor my daarin, maar dis darem veel interessanter!")

izakdevries.co.za