Alan Paton - a short biography and bibliography of this KwaZulu-Natal author.
Alan Stewart Paton (1903-1988) was born and
educated in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. He started
his career by teaching at
a school in Ixopo where he met and married his first wife.
The dramatic career
change to director of a reformatory for black youths at
Diepkloof, near
Johannesburg, had a profound effect on his thinking. The
publication of Cry,
The Beloved Country (1948) made him one of South
Africa's best known
writers. It is a searing account of the inhumanity of
apartheid told in a
lyrical voice which emphasises Paton's love for the land
and people of South
Africa, and his hope for a change in the future. It
remains a world bestseller
and probably one of the most recognisable titles from this
country. Paton became
a fulltime writer after this novel, producing novels
(Too late the Phalarope
1953, Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful 1981), two
volumes of his autobiography
(Towards the Mountain 1980, Journey Continued
1988), short stories
and biographies of J.H. Hofmeyr and Bishop Geoffrey
Clayton among other
writings. Following his non-racial ideals, he helped to
found the South African
Liberal Party and became its president. He remarried after
the death of his
first wife and remained living in Durban until he died.
Selected Workfrom Cry, the Beloved Country (1948)
There is a lovely road that runs
from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered
and rolling, and they
are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven
miles into them, to
Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look
down on one of the
fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and
bracken and you may hear
the forlorn crying of the titihoya, one of the birds of
the veld. Below you is
the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the
Drakensberg to the sea; and
beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill;
and beyond and behind
them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand.
The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It
holds the rain and the
mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams
in every kloof. It is
well-tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too
many fires burn it,
laying bare the soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground
is holy, being even
as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for
it, for it keeps men,
guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is
destroyed.
Where you stand the grass is rich and matted, you cannot
see the soil. But the
rich green hills break down. They fall to the valley
below, and falling, change
their nature. For they grow red and bare; they cannot hold
the rain and mist,
and the streams are dry in the kloofs. Too many cattle
feed upon the grass, and
too many fires have burned it. Stand shod upon it, for it
is coarse and sharp,
and the stones cut under the feet. It is not kept, or
guarded, or cared for, it
no longer keeps men, guards men, cares for men. The
titihoya does not cry here
any more.
The great red hills stand desolate, and the earth has torn
away like flesh. The
lightning flashes over them, the clouds pour down upon
them, the dead streams
come to life, full of the red blood of the earth. Down in
the valleys women
scratch the soil that is left, and the maize hardly
reaches the height of a man.
They are valleys of old men and old women, of mothers and
children. The men are
away, the young men and the girls are away. The soil
cannot keep them any more.
Alan Paton comments on the Colour Bar and on Cry the
Beloved Country from
J.D.
Blechman's 1981 interview with Alan Paton.
zoom
Valley of 1000 Hills
|
Bibliography1953. Too Late the Phalarope
1961. Debbie, Go Home.
1964. Hofmeyr.
1965. Sponono: A Play in Three Acts
1968. Instrument of Thy Peace
1969. Kontakion for you departed.
1973. Apartheid and the Archbishop: the life and
times of Geoffrey
Clayton, Archbishop of Cape Town.
1975. Knocking at the door.
1980. Towards the Mountain.
1981. Ah, but your land is beautiful.
1986. Diepkloof: reflections of Diepkloof
Reformatory.
1988. Journey Continued
1995. Songs of Africa: collected poems.
Alexander, Peter 1994. Alan Paton: a biography.
Oxford: Oxford University
Press. - The Alan
Paton Centre & Struggle Archives - University of KwaZulu-
Natal, Pietermaritzburg -
For more information please visit
KZN Literary
Tourism
- Ixopo -
- Index -
|
|
