South Africa has a diverse literary history. Literature is literally acquaintance with letters as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary (from the Latin littera meaning an individual written character (letter)). The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts, which in Western culture are mainly prose, both fiction and non-fiction...

Many of the first black authors were missionary-educated, and the majority of which thus wrote in either English or Afrikaans. One of the first well known novels written by a black author in an African language was Solomon Thekiso Plaatje's Mhudi, written in 1930. A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia with smaller numbers of speakers in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Solomon Tshekiso Plaatje (1877 – June 19, 1932) was an African polyglot, journalist, writer and statesman. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Notable white South African authors include Nadine Gordimer, who was born in 1923 and, in Seamus Heaney's words, one of "the guerrillas of the imagination," and who became the first South African and the seventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991; and Athol Fugard, whose plays have been regularly premiered in fringe theatres in South Africa, London (The Royal Court Theatre) and New York. Nadine Gordimer (b. ... Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (b. ... Guerrilla War redirects here. ... The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual work, though individual works are sometimes... Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (born in 1932), better known as Athol Fugard, is a well-known South African playwright. ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London (see Wiktionary:London for the name in other languages) is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ...

Alan Paton published the acclaimed novel Cry, the Beloved Country in 1948. He told the tale of a black priest who comes to Johannesburg to find his son, which became an international bestseller. During the 1950s, Drum magazine became a hotbed of political satire, fiction, and essays, giving a voice to urban black culture. Around the same time, future Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer began publishing her first stories. Her most famous novel, July's People, was released in 1981, depicting the collapse of white-majority rule. Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African author. ... 2003 paperback edition (Scribners) Cry, The Beloved Country is a novel by South African author Alan Paton. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Roman Catholic priest LCDR Allen R. Kuss (USN) aboard USS Enterprise A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ... City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ... A son is a male offspring; a boy, man, or male animal in relation to his parents. ... A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on a list of top-sellers. ... // Events and No. ... A collection of magazines A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles, generally financed by advertising and/or purchase by readers. ... Politics, sometimes defined as the art and science of government. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... An essay is a short work that treats a topic from an authors personal point of view, often taking into account subjective experiences and personal reflections upon them. ... Urban culture is the culture of cities. ... The Nobel Prizes (pronounced no-BELL or no-bell) are awarded annually to people who have done outstanding research, invented groundbreaking techniques or equipment, or made outstanding contributions to society. ... Nadine Gordimer (b. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Afrikaans-language writers also began to write controversial material. Breyton Breytenbach was jailed for his involvement with the guerrilla movement against apartheid. Andre Brink was the first Afrikaner writer to be banned by the government after he released the novel A Dry White Season about a white South African who discovers the truth about a black friend who dies in police custody. Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia with smaller numbers of speakers in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia. ... Breyten Breytenbach (born September 16, 1939) is a South African writer and painter with French citizenship. ... Guerrilla War redirects here. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... André Philippus Brink (born on 29 May 1935 in Vrede) is a South African novelist. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Many societies have banned certain books. ... A Dry White Season is a 1989 film starring Marlon Brando, Donald Sutherland, and Susan Sarandon. ...

Several influential black poets became prominant in the 1970s such as Mongane Wally Serote, whose most famous work, No Baby Must Weep, gave insight into the every day lives of black South Africans under apartheid. Another famous black novelist, Zakes Mda, transitioned from poetry and plays to becoming a novelist in the same time period. His novel, The Heart of Redness won the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was made a part of the school curriculum across South Africa. John Maxwell (JM) Coetzee also was first published in the 1970s, although he became internationally recognised two decades later. His 1999 novel Disgrace won him his second Booker Prize. He also won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. A poet exists within a cultural and intellectual tradition and usually writes in a specific language, but the qualities of good poetry are to some extent timeless and address issues common to all humanity. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Mongane Wally Serote (1944-) is a South African poet and writer. ... This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Commonwealth Writers Prize was established in 1987. ... In education, a curriculum (plural curricula) is the set of courses and their contents offered by an institution such as a school or university. ... J.M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee (pronounced coot-SEE-uh) is a South African author. ... This is a list of decades which have articles with more information about them. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Disgrace cover Disgrace (1999) is a novel by J. M. Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature; the book itself won the Booker Prize in 1999, the year in which it was published. ... The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known as the Man Booker Prize, or simply the Man Booker, is one of the worlds most important literary prizes, and awarded each year for the best original novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland in... Sir Edward Appletons medal Photographs of Nobel Prize Medals. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

South Africa's unique social and political history have generated a strong group of local writers, which themes that span the days of apartheid to the lives of people in the "new South Africa". The history of South Africa encompasses over three million years. ...

See also

• List of South African writers
• List of South African poets
• South African poetry
• The Great Place