Zakes Mda Biography
Zakes Mda is a South African novelist, poet, and playwright, who was born and brought up in Herschel, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He is widely known as the son of A. P. Mda, the renowned teacher, lawyer, political activist and co founder of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels as well as plays. Currently, he is a Patron of the Etisalat Prize for Literature.
10 Quick Facts About Zakes Mda
- Name: Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda
- Age: 74 Years (As of 2022)
- Birthday: 1 January
- Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
- Height: Average
- Nationality: South African
- Occupation: Novelist, Poet, and Playwright
- Marital Status: Married
- Salary: Under Review
- Net worth: $300,000
Zakes Mda Age
Mda is 74 years old as of 2022, he was born on 1 January 1948, in Herschel, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He celebrates his birthday on 1 January every year and his birth sign is Capricorn.
Zakes Mda Height
Mda stands at an average height and moderate weight. He appears to be quite tall in stature in his photos, relative to his surroundings, which are anything to go by. However, details regarding his actual height and other body measurements are currently not publicly available. We are keeping tabs and will update this information once it is out.
Zakes Mda Education
Mda completed the Cambridge Overseas Certificate at Peka High School, Lesotho in 1969. He pursued his Bfa (Visual Arts and Literature) at the International Academy of Arts and Literature, Zurich, Switzerland in 1976.
He completed an MFA (Theater) and an MA (Mass Communication and Media) in 1984 at Ohio University, United States. Mda completed his Ph.D. at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1989.
Zakes Mda Family
Mda was born and raised by his parents in Herschel, South Africa. Our efforts to find out more about his family came to no avail as no such information is publicly available. Thus, the identity of Zakes’s parents is still unclear. It is also not known if he has any siblings. We will update this section once this information is available.
Zakes Mda Wife
Mda is currently married to his wife Adele Mavuso. He has two children with her. Zakes was first married to Mpho and have three children together.
Zakes Mda Net Worth
Mda has an estimated net worth of $300,000 dollars as of 2022. This includes his assets, money, and income. His primary source of income is his career as a novelist, poet as well as a playwright. Through his various sources of income, Zakes has been able to accumulate a good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.
Zakes Mda Measurements and Facts
Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Zakes.
Zakes Mda Wiki
- Full name: Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda
- Popular As: Zakes Mda
- Gender: Male
- Occupation / Profession: Novelist, Poet, and Playwright
- Nationality: South African
- Race / Ethnicity: African
- Religion: Christian
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
Zakes Mda Birthday
- Age / How Old?: 74 years (2022)
- Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
- Date of Birth: 1 January 1948
- Place of Birth: Herschel, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Birthday: 1 January
Zakes Mda Body Measurements
- Body Measurements: Not Available
- Height / How Tall?: Average
- Weight: Moderate
- Eye Color: Dark Brown
- Hair Color: Black
- Shoe Size: Not Available
Zakes Mda Family and Relationship
- Father (Dad): Not Known
- Mother: Not Known
- Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Not Known
- Marital Status: Married
- Wife/Spouse: Married to Adele Mavuso
- Dating / Girlfriend: Not Applicable
- Children: Three (2)
Zakes Mda Net Worth and Salary
- Net Worth: $300,000
- Salary: Under Review
- Source of Income: Novelist, Poet, and Playwright
Zakes Mda House and Cars
- Place of living: US
- Cars: Car Brand to be Updated
Zakes Mda Ways Of Dying
Mda novels have been translated into 21 languages, the translation of Ways of Dying into Turkish being the latest. Mda’s first novel, Ways of Dying, takes place during the transitional years that marked South Africa’s transformation into a democratic nation.
Zakes Mda Heart Of Redness
The Heart of Redness, Zake’s third novel, is inspired by the history of Nongqawuse, a Xhosa prophetess whose prophecies catalyzed the Cattle-Killing of 1856 – 1857. Xhosa culture spilled between Believers and Unbelievers, adding to existing social strain, famine, and social breakdown.
Zakes Mda Black Diamond
Set in post-apartheid South Africa, Zakes Mda’s latest novel, Black Diamond, references a nickname for the country’s rising black elite, not coal.
Although its social commentary is engaging, the novel’s predictable love plot of Don’s shift from controlling ex-supermodel Tumi to Kristin, the mousy magistrate turned accepting blond bombshell, is cliché, at best.
Miranda May Charlotte Tilbury
The Heart of Redness, Mda’s third novel, is inspired by the history of Nongqawuse, a Xhosa prophetess whose prophecies catalyzed the Cattle-Killing of 1856 to 1857.
Zakes Mda Novelist
When he began publishing, he adopted the pen name of Zakes Mda. In addition to writing novels and plays, he has taught English and creative writing in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Most recently, he went to the United States, where he became a professor in the English Department at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Zakes has been a visiting professor at Yale and the University of Vermont.
He is a founding member and currently works on the advisory board of African writers Trust, ”a non-profit entity which seeks to coordinate and bring together African writers in the Diaspora and writers on the continent to promote sharing of skills and other resources, and to nurture knowledge and learning between the two groups.
On 8 June 2012, Zakes was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Cape Town for his contributions to world literature. His novels have been translated into 21 languages, the translation of Ways of Dying into Turkish being the latest.
Zakes Mda Literary Works
Zakes’ first novel, Ways of Dying, takes place during the interim years that marked South Africa’s transformation into a democratic nation. It follows the character of Toloki. After finding himself destitute, he invents a profession as a ”Professional Mourner.”
He traverses the violent urban landscape of an unnamed South Africa city, finding an old love amidst the internecine fighting present in the townships and squatter settlements.
The Heart of Redness, Zake’s third novel, is inspired by the history of Nongqawuse, a Xhosa prophetess whose prophecies catalyzed the Cattle-Killing of 1856 – 1857. Xhosa culture spilled between Believers and Unbelievers, adding to existing social strain, famine, and social breakdown.
It is believed that 20,000 people died of hunger during that time. In the novel, Zakes continually shifts back and forth between the present day and the time of Nongqawuse to show the complex interplay between history and myth.
He dramatizes the uncertain future of a culture whose troubled relationship with the colonizing their home of Qolorha-by-Sea. Zakes’ account of the Cattle-Killing draws heavily on that of historian Jeff Peires in his book The Dead Will Arise (Zakes acknowledges this at the outset of his novel).
Like Peires, Zakes identifies Mhikaza, Nongqawuse’s uncle, and one of the key players in the event, with William Goliath, the first Xhosa person baptized in the Anglican church.
Zakes Mda Books
- 1995: Ways of Dying
- 2000: The heart of redness
- 2002: The Madonna of Excelsior
- 2005: The Whale Caller
- 1995: She plays with the darkness
- 2011: Sometimes There Is a Void: Memoirs of an Outsider
- 2013: Rachel’s Blue
- 2013: The Sculptors of Mapungubwe
- 2015: Little Suns
- 2007: Cion
- 1993: When people play people
- 1993: And the girls in their Sunday dresses
- 2002: Fools, bells, and the habit of eating
- 2009: Black Diamond
- 1987: We Shall Sing for the Fatherland
- 1990: The plays of Zakes Mda
- 2012: Our Lady of Benoni
- 2002: Diterama tsa ga Zakes Mda: Setswana
- 1997: Melville 67: A Novella for Youth
- 2002: Ditiragatšo tša Zakes Mda: Sesotho sa Leboa
Zakes Mda Quotes
- “If you are truly telling a South African story then it will be political — because you are dealing with people who lead political lives in an environment which is highly politically charged.”
- “The girls cannot contain their joy. They must start rehearsing immediately. They teach Saluni a new song that they have composed at the swamps. It is about croaking frogs in their green and brown colours and how the girls caught them and pierced their eyes with sharp sticks and set them free to hop about in wonderful blindness. It is a haunting melody. They tell Saluni that the song is all about the fun they had at the swamps today. The blinded frogs will live peacefully because now they won’t be bothered by the bright rays of the sun. They won’t have to run from danger, because they won’t see it. They will therefore be safe since danger only catches those who run away from it.”
- “Death lives with us every day. Indeed our ways of dying are our ways of living. Or should I say our ways of living are our ways of dying?”
- “Everybody laughed for a long time, for it was the kind of joke that seemed to grow on you. You would laugh and eventually stop. But after a few minutes, you would think of the joke again, and you would burst out laughing all over again.”
Zakes Mda Awards
- 1978: Special merit award in the first Amstel Playwright of the Year Award of South Africa ‘We Shall Sing for the Fatherland’
- 1979: Amstel Playwright of the Year Award for ‘The Hill’
- 1997: M-Net Book Prize, South Africa for ‘Ways of Dying’
- 2001: Commonwealth Writers’ Prize: Africa, the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for ‘The Heart of Redness’
- 2001: Sunday Times Fiction Prize for ‘The Heart of Redness’
- 2004: Top Ten South African Books published in the Decade of Democracy ‘The Madonna of Excelsior’
- 2017: 17th Barry Ronge Fiction Prize ‘Little Suns’
Frequently Asked Questions About Zakes Mda
Zakes is an accomplished novelist, poet, and playwright, who won major South African and British literary awards for his novels as well as plays.
Zakes is a South African national born on 1st January 1948, in Herschel, Eastern Cape.
Zakes stands at an average height, he has not shared his height with the public. His height will be listed once we have it from a credible source.
Yes, Zakes is married to Adele Mavuso. He has two children with her. Zakes was first married to Mpho and have three children together.
Zakes has an approximate net worth of $300,000. This amount has been accrued from his leading roles in the entertainment industry.
Details about Zakes’s salary are not yet disclosed. However, information about how much he makes will be updated as soon as it is available.
Zakes is a resident of the United States, we shall upload pictures of his house as soon as we have them.
Zakes is alive and in good health. There have been no reports of him being sick or having any health-related issues.
Zakes Mda Contacts
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