Bessie Head (1937–1986)
Författare till A Question of Power
Om författaren
Bessie Head was born on July 6, 1937 in a mental hospital in South Africa. She was the child of a white mother and a black father. Head's mother had been judged insane for fraternizing with a colored man and committed to the mental hospital while pregnant. After her birth, Head was adopted by a visa mer coloured woman and raised in the mixed-raced community of Natal, South Africa. Head's birth mother died in the asylum in 1943. After receiving her teaching certificate, Head taught for a short while before taking a job as a newspaper reporter. In 1964, Head migrated to Botswana and began her career as a novelist. When Rain Clouds Gather, Head's first novel, was published in 1968. In the book, Head focuses on the racial hatred and political corruption of her time. Head's other novels include Maru, A Question of Power, and Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind, a story set in the village where Head lived. Head also wrote the collections Tales of Tenderness and Power, A Collection of Treasures, and A Woman Alone: Autobiographical Writings. Bessie Head died on April 17, 1986, at the age of 49. (Bowker Author Biography) visa färre
Verk av Bessie Head
Woman from America 1 exemplar
Associerade verk
Wayward Girls & Wicked Women: An Anthology of Subversive Stories (1986) — Bidragsgivare — 519 exemplar
Other Voices, Other Vistas: Short Stories from Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America (1992) — Bidragsgivare — 183 exemplar
Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient… (1992) — Bidragsgivare — 156 exemplar
Wild Women: Contemporary Short Stories by Women Celebrating Women (1994) — Bidragsgivare — 141 exemplar
The Heinemann Book of African Women's Writing (African Writers Series) (1993) — Bidragsgivare — 33 exemplar
Taggad
Allmänna fakta
- Vedertaget namn
- Head, Bessie
- Namn enligt folkbokföringen
- Emery, Bessie Amelia (birth)
- Födelsedag
- 1937-07-06
- Avled
- 1986-04-17
- Kön
- female
- Nationalitet
- South Africa
Botswana (from 1979) - Land (för karta)
- Botswana
- Födelseort
- Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa
- Dödsort
- Serowe, Botswana
- Dödsorsak
- Hepatitis
- Bostadsorter
- Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa
Serowe, Botswana
Durban, South Africa - Yrken
- novelist
short-story writer - Organisationer
- Drum
Pan Africanist Congress
The New African - Priser och utmärkelser
- The Order of Ikhamanga in Gold
Medlemmar
Diskussioner
Group Read, August 2023: A Question of Power i 1001 Books to read before you die (augusti 31)
Recensioner
A Question of Power av Bessie Head
Much of this novel explores the protagonist's experience with mental illness so it's not a particularly enjoyable read. But it seems ahead of its time for its unvarnished description of the experience. And similar to [b:When Rain Clouds Gather|28278|When Rain Clouds Gather|Bessie Head|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387749241l/28278._SY75_.jpg|2261015] there are vivid descriptions of life in Botswana and efforts to improve agricultural methods/life that are compelling.… (mer)
A short novel with a gently unfolding punch. Its overriding theme is racism: how it is maintained and overcome, but it is also an exploration of conflicting personalities; their battles and resolutions.
If ever I should muster the ability to relate to this madness - please put me out of my misery. It seems to me that Goodreads reviews are often like RottenTomato reviews - the more terrible the movie, the more stars it is given by "great minds." It's almost as if the great minds can't stand the thought of something being beyond them. No great mind here- and no danger in admitting that you couldn't PAY me to read this again. While there are moments of brilliance - it's not worth navigating the riptide of chaos that is the rest of the novel.… (mer)
I’m embarrassed to have taken so long to read her. I have long known her enormous reputation but have somehow unaccountably never read her work. It won’t be long until I pick up another: she richly deserves her reputation. This collection of stories takes place in Botswana, the country that Head (born in South Africa) used most often for her settings. Head’s own biography is fascinating; I urge you to investigate it. But these stories: it is tempting to say that they all deal with the position of women in society, with the abuses and the injustices they suffer. And there is much of that. But the stories are much richer, more rounded, and fuller. They relate in simple straightforward prose the lives of rural women (and men) as they live under the cumulative oppressions of patriarchy, poverty and colonialism. Her protagonists can seem surprisingly meek and yet underestimating their power is always foolish; their belief in themselves is little short of awe-inspiring. These stories address issues prompted by colonialism, by traditional and Christian spirituality, and deal with the tension inevitable between group and individual identity. She is a powerful writer and most of her protagonists are nothing less than a primal force.… (mer)
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Statistik
- Verk
- 18
- Även av
- 18
- Medlemmar
- 1,412
- Popularitet
- #18,208
- Betyg
- 3.7
- Recensioner
- 33
- ISBN
- 79
- Språk
- 8
- Favoritmärkt
- 3