François Bloemhof

François Bloemhof is a South African author, playwright, composer, copywriter and film reviewer. He writes mostly in Afrikaans and has won a number of prizes for his work.

Biography

François Bloemhof was born in the town of Paarl in the Cape Province, South Africa. His writing career was activated in grade 9 when his English teacher awarded him 97% for a short story. Since then he has become the only author in the world to write so extensively and successfully for the adult, teenage and youth markets.

He didn’t attempt writing a novel until some years after leaving school, chiefly because he believed there was no room for “his type of story” in what was a rather conservative Afrikaans market. When he did write it, his vision was fully formed, titled Die nag het net een oog, a Gothic novel set in a small (and totally un-Gothic) rural community. For this in 1991 he won the coveted De Kat prize, at that time the country’s most prestigious literary award.

Many books for adults have followed, as have many awards and nominations. This prolific writer’s adult work explores thriller, supernatural and more conventional dramatic themes. He is also credited with creating a secret agent (Rooi Luiperd) series as well as one starring a female detective, Alma van der Pool, both being the first of their kind in the Afrikaans publishing field. To date he has also written a cabaret as well as award-winning stage plays, radio dramas and serials.

Bloemhof

Bloemhof is an agricultural town of about 28,000 inhabitants situated on the banks of the Vaal River in North West Province of South Africa.

It was founded in 1864 when diamonds were discovered in the area. The town was established on the farm owned by John Barclay, who survived the HMS Birkenhead shipwreck in 1852. The place became known as Bloemhof (flower court) because of the lovely gardens that were planted by Barclay's daughter. Currently Bloemhof has a variety of social milieus; it has a township called Boitumelong and former coloured residence called Coverdale. Salamad is also a small residence formerly an Indian suburb which is situated in this town.

Tourist attractions

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