Born in 1935 in Vrede, Free State, André P. Brink was a literary giant. Excelling in school and university, Brink left South Africa to study comparative literature at the Sorbonne University in Paris. He authored numerous plays, works of non-fiction, and novels and in 1973 was the first Afrikaans writer to have a novel, Kennis van die Aand, banned by the apartheid regime. Some of his titles included An Instant in the Wind, Rumours of Rain, A Dry White Season, The Rights of Desire and Philida, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2012.
Brink wrote in Afrikaans and English and he has had his work translated into 36 languages. Brink is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Prix Médicis Étranger, Premio Mondello, Monismanien Human Rights Award, the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, and Commonwealth Literature Prize for Africa Region. He has won the CNA Award three times, the Hertzog Prize twice, and was twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2005, he was made Officer of the Legion of Honour by the French government. His memoir A Fork in the Road was published in 2009.
Brink was recognised by the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) for his outstanding contribution to South African literature when he received an ACT Lifetime Achievement award in 2014. Other Lifetime Achievement Award Winners that year included Richard Cock for Music, Sam Nzima for Visual Art, Richard Loring for Theatre and Mandie van der Spuy for Arts Advocacy.
Brink continued to stimulate South African minds and inspire new generations as a Professor Emeritus of the University of Cape Town until his death. Brink passed away in 2015 at the age of 79 while returning from Belgium, where he had been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Belgian Francophone Université catholique de Louvain.
On, what would have been his 80th birthday, ACT is remembering him for his versatile and extensive body of work, mighty words and powerful stories, which will inspire us for many years to come.
The annual ACT Awards will take place this year in late October and promises to be another memorable affair. The ACT awards are presented in partnership with Sun International, The National Lotteries Commission (NLC), Nedbank Arts Affinity, Media24 Books, DALRO, JTI, Distell Foundation and Creative Feel Magazine.