INTRODUCING MENAN DU PLESSIS

Menan Du Plessis was born in Cape Town in 1952, studied linguistics at the University of Cape Town before lecturing at the same university. She began writing poetry in the 1970s, which were published in the journal Quarry. She married Professor Renfrew L. Christie, Dean of Research at the University of the Western Cape. They have two daughters, and were guardian to an orphaned son Cornelius Graafland, from 20 September 1989 to 3 January 1994, when he turned twenty-one. Her two novels, Longlive! and A State of Fear, were well received within liberal circles as it deals with political tension in the mid-1980s South Africa. She was a member of the United Democratic Front (UDF), an organisation opposed to the national government of the time and allied to the ANC, and also wrote for their magazine, Upfront, to which she contributed articles as well. She believes South African writing can offer what European writing cannot: “Reading contemporary British writers, for me they are technically very good, but bland – South Africa offers a richness”. Sources Steyn, Pierre. 1986. Stop flinging false accusations. Frontline, 6(4), August. Aarons, Michelle. 1989. Private Anguish amid the Teargas. Weekly Mail 5(25), 30 June. Dederick, Jane. 1989. ‘Longlive!’ a Response to ‘85’s political turmoil in SA. The Cape Times, 7 July. Munnik, Victor. 1989. Menswees in die Revolusie. Vrye Weekblad, 13 October. Holtzhausen, Evelyn. 1989. Dull Characters in Search of a Plot. The Cape Times, 12 August. P.A.S. 1989. Portraits of a Familiar Scene. Daily Dispatch. 5 August. Ngcobo, Lauretta. 1988. Review: Apartheid South Africa: Through Women's Eyes. Third World Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1, Succession in the South, (Jan.), pp. 299- 306 North, James. 1987. Unfolding Horror. New York Times, November 8 Political Editorial Staff. 1992. Polisie, IVP takel Amnestie oor verslag, aanklag. Die Burger, 10 June. 1986. Menan skenk Sanlam-Prys aan UDF blad. Beeld 30 June. 1992. Focus on Menan du Plessis. The New Nation, 15 October. - Senekal, B.A.