Beverley Naidoo

Back | Genres | Bibliography | Prizes and awards | Further reading on this site | Contact details | Related links | Printer-friendly version

	Photo: © Penguin

Biography

Beverley Naidoo was born into a white, middle-class family in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1943. She graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in 1963. Her involvement with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa led to her being imprisoned in solitary confinement for eight weeks at the age of 21. She left for England in 1965 and studied at the University of York with the help of a United Nations Bursary, training to become a teacher. She taught both primary and secondary children in London for 18 years. She obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Southampton in 1991 and worked as Adviser for Cultural Diversity and English in Dorset. She has tutored Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and run workshops for young people and adults in Britain and abroad, including for the British Council. She married another South African exile and returned freely to South Africa for the first time in 1991.

Her first novel for children, Journey to Jo'burg, was published in 1985. A powerful portrayal of racism seen from a child's perspective, the book was banned in South Africa until 1991. A sequel, Chain of Fire, was published in 1989. No Turning Back (1995) was written after running workshops for young people in South Africa with theatre director Olusola Oyeleye. The Other Side of Truth (2000) was inspired in part by the execution of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and tells the story of two Nigerian children who flee to London as refugees after their mother is killed.

Her collection of stories Out of Bounds (2001), with a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, covers six decades of South African history under apartheid and after the first democratic elections. She has also written picture books and collaborated with her daughter Maya on Baba's Gift (2003). Her first play, The Playground, was produced by the Polka Theatre in London in 2003 and was named a Time Out 2004 Critics' Choice.

Beverley Naidoo's most recent novels are Web of Lies (2004), a sequel to The Other Side of Truth; Burn My Heart (2007); and Call of the Deep (2008).

Top of page

Genres (in alphabetical order)

Children, Drama, Non-fiction, Short stories, Young adult

Bibliography

Censoring Reality: An Examination of Books on South Africa   ILEA Centre for Anti-Racist Education and British Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, 1985

Journey to Jo'burg   Longman, 1985

Free as I Know   (editor)   Bell & Hyman, 1987

Chain of Fire   Collins, 1989

Through Whose Eyes?: Exploring Racism: Reader, Text and Context   Trentham Books, 1992

Letang and Julie Save the Day   (with illustrations by Petra Röhr-Rouendaal)   Longman, 1994

Letang's New Friend   (with illustrations by Petra Röhr-Rouendaal)   Longman, 1994

Trouble for Letang and Julie   (with illustrations by Petra Röhr-Rouendaal)   Longman, 1994

No Turning Back   Viking, 1995

Global Tales: Stories from Many Cultures   (co-editor with Chris Donovan and Alun Hicks)   Longman, 1997

Where is Zami?   (with illustrations by Petra Röhr-Rouendaal)   Macmillan Education, 1998

The Other Side of Truth   Puffin, 2000

Out of Bounds   Puffin, 2001

The Great Tug of War   (with illustrations by Piet Grobler)   Macmillan Education, 2001

Baba's Gift   (with Maya Naidoo, illustrations by Karin Littlewood)   Puffin, 2003

Web of Lies   Penguin, 2004

Burn My Heart   Puffin, 2007

Call of the Deep   (with illustrations by Yishan Li)   Barrington Stoke, 2008

Read about books by Beverley Naidoo at encompassculture.com - the British Council's book database and global online book club

Buy books by Beverley Naidoo at Amazon.co.uk

Top of page

Prizes and awards

1985   The Other Award   Journey to Jo'burg

1999   Arts Council Writers' Award   The Other Side of Truth

2000   Carnegie Medal   The Other Side of Truth

2000   Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Silver Award)   (9-11 years category)   The Other Side of Truth

2001   Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Young Adult Fiction)   (shortlist)   The Other Side of Truth

Top of page

Further reading on this site

Literature Matters
Why not take a look at Literature Matters , British Council Literature Department's online magazine? The latest issue is all about Children's Literature. The good news is that more books... more...   (30/06/2005)

Top of page

Contact information

Publisher (General enquiries) Penguin Group (UK) 80 Strand London  WC2R ORL England Tel: +44 (0)20 7010 3000 Fax: +44 (0)20 7010 6060 http://www.penguin.co.uk

Top of page

Related links

http:/ / www.beverleynaidoo.com

Top of page