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Oil Brink on fictional deaths, tutoring and that memoir
SA icon will make his maiden appearance at the Franschhoek festival, writes BEVERLEY BROMMERTApril 27, 2009 Edition 1
Beverley Brommert
IT CAME as a relief to author André Brink to learn that this interview does NOT deal specifically with his latest publication, the memoir titled 'n Vurk in die Pad (A Fork in the Road).
He complained that he has been "bombarded" with interviews about the new work for the past two months, since the English version appeared in February.
He was due to have yet another interview immediately after this one, which is on the subject of Brink's participation in the forthcoming literary festival in Franschhoek in May.
Not surprisingly, one of his three appearances in the festival's programme of events celebrating books and writers concerns 'n Vurk in die Pad, about which he will chat to Susan Mann, to whom he refers as one of his "star students" among those aspiring authors whom he mentored for some years at UCT.
His second intervention is on the topic of teaching creative writing, and the third Brink participation will be in a discussion with Shaun Johnson and two fellow writers about the demise of characters in fiction, titled Sending Them off Gracefully and held, appropriately, in the Hospice Hall in Franschhoek.
On the now hoary subject of his memoir, Brink admits to feeling gratified at the intensity of interest it has generated: "None of my previous books has attracted so much attention, and I've no idea why this one should have, although it's very pleasing... Perhaps it has to do with its publication just ahead of a crucial election."
As he has had a long and rewarding friendship with Mann, he regards his interview with her during the festival as "a treat in store", with the added benefit that no preparation will be necessary. "I expect it will take the form of a question-and-answer session."
When he joins creative writing tutors Henrietta Rose-Innes (author of The Rock Alphabet) and Willem Anker (who wrote Siegfried) to discuss whether writing can really be taught there will be more scope for debate.
"I have never found tutoring a problem," says Brink. "When I went to UCT it was part of my brief, and many an aspiring writer has passed through my hands. I enjoy assisting authors of all ages, some intensively, and some in a more general way. It's deeply satisfying helping them to find their voice, as it were - showing them how to gain confidence and get the means to express what they feel they have to say."
It is the third session, on the death of fictional characters, which really intrigues Brink. "I only heard about it yesterday, and I'm most interested to see where the subject takes us," he grins. "Quite a few characters have died in my novels, and their death usually takes me by surprise. They choose the moment, not me - playing God is not my forte.
"Sometimes I resist when a character decides to die, but if he or she is written into a corner, it's better for the book if they go."
He adds that the most poignant part of his autobiography deals with death: "The book is conceived thematically, which is why there is a chapter on deaths I have had to deal with in the course of my life.
"Every death is terrible in its own right, even when it comes as a release from suffering. My mother died last year aged 99, and we were disappointed that she couldn't have made her century, but she wanted to go and join my father. There is a symbiosis between death in real life and death in fiction - the one informs the other. I'm approaching the topic of fictional demise with an open mind because I like the idea of surprises in store: I think it should be a very stimulating session."
In A Fork in the Road, Brink actually writes for the first time about his relationship with darkling poet Ingrid Jonker, who walked into the sea in July 1965 and washed ashore the next day. He has said that when he learnt of her death, he went temporarily blind.
In that third session his fellow novelists will be Sindiwe Magona (Beauty's Gift) and Justin Cartwright (The Song Before it is Sung).
This will be a maiden appearance for Brink at the annual Franschhoek Literary Festival. "When my friend and colleague at UCT, Mark Solms, whose brainchild the festival happens to be, heard that I was not invited last year, he was amazed - so now I'm participating."
Brink explains the history of his relationship with Solms: "Among his many pursuits, Mark is a winemaker of note; my novel A Chain of Voices about slaves on a wine farm in the 19th century inspired him to buy a farm near Boschendal, which coincidentally one of my ancestors had owned circa 1830!
"He has created a museum on the farm commemorating every single person involved in working on it. I'm very tempted to write a biography of one of those workers once I've stopped fielding all these interviews, and after the festival is over."
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