Deon Meyer

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Deon Meyer, 2010

Deon Meyer (born July 4, 1958 in Paarl , Cape Province ) is a South African writer , screenwriter and film director . He is one of the most famous crime writers in South Africa and writes his books in Afrikaans .

Life

At 14 he wrote his first novel, which, however, by his brothers savaged was. After military service and studying at Potchefstroom University , he first worked as a reporter for Die Volksblad , a daily newspaper in Bloemfontein . This was followed by activities as a copywriter, creative director, consultant for Internet and marketing . Independently of this, he continued to write and was able to publish some short stories in South African newspapers. He is now the most successful thriller author in South Africa.

Meyer is married and has four children. He lives in Stellenbosch near Cape Town .

Works

In 1994 Meyer's first novel was published in his native Afrikaans . In contrast to many other South African authors, Meyer continues to write only in this language and not in English. In order to capture the reality in the multilingual South Africa, the dialogues often change to English, to Xhosa or Zulu . Meyer's novels have now been translated into numerous languages. Outside of South Africa, his writing style is often compared to that of Henning Mankell . In addition to the Swede, Meyer mentions John D. MacDonald and John le Carré as role models.

Although Meyer does not write a series of novels in the strict sense, he always draws on the same protagonists in his books. They are often fallible, broken figures: ex-killers, bodyguards, former and current police officers with alcohol or relationship problems. Bennie Griessel (“Benny” Griessel in the early translations from English) appears as a minor character in Meyer's first internationally published novel The Sad Policeman (1996). From Der Atem des Jäger (2004) onwards, he became the central investigative figure. According to Julika Griem, he is “designed as a self-critical successor to the Chandler protagonists who is vulnerable in his machismo ”, who also struggles with his alcohol addiction and with the police apparatus. In Thobela "Tiny" Mpayipheli, the gigantic Xhosa fighter of the early novels, Patrick Anderson sees an almost mythical hero who captures the soul of an entire continent and who stands for strength as well as for the long history of suffering of Africa and the Africans.

In addition to his novels, Meyer also published a travel guide for motorcyclists ( Dirt Busters ) and the cookbook Enjoy! Cooking with Anita and Deon Meyer.

In 2013 he directed the film Die Laaste Tango , for which he also wrote the screenplay. His books also serve as templates for other television and film productions. The film Alles wat Mal is is based on a short story by Meyer. However, the film has so far only been shown in the Afrikaans-speaking area. His novel The Sad Policeman was adapted for the six-part television series Cape Town . Trond Espen Seim plays investigator Mat Joubert in it. The series has been aired since June 2016.

Bennie Griessel series

  • 2004: Infanta (Afrikaans) / Devil's peak (English)
  • 2008: 13 uur (afrikaans) / 13 hours (english)
  • 2011: 7 Dae (Afrikaans) / 7 Days (English)
  • 2013: Kobra (Afrikaans) / Cobra (English)
  • 2015: Ikarus (Afrikaans) / Icarus (English)
  • 2017: Die vrou in die blou mantel (Afrikaans) / The Woman in the Blue Cape (English)
  • 2018: Prooi (Afrikaans) / The Last Hunt (English)
  • 2020: Donkerdrif (Afrikaans)

Other works

  • 1994: Like Met Vuur Speel (Afrikaans)
  • 1996: Feniks (afrikaans) / Dead before Dying (English)
  • 1997: Bottervisse in die jêm: 13 kortverhale (afrikaans; 13 short stories)
  • 2000: Orion (Afrikaans) / Dead at Daybreak (English)
  • 2002: Proteus (Afrikaans) / Heart of the Hunter (English)
  • 2007: Onsigbaar (afrikaans) / Blood Safari , other edition: Invisible (English)
  • 2010: Karoonag en anders verhale (afrikaans; short stories)
  • 2010: Spoor (afrikaans) / Trackers (English)
  • 2016: Koors (Afrikaans) / Fever (English)

Scripts

  • 2009: Transito (Afrikaans)
  • 2010: Jakhalsdans (Afrikaans)
  • 2013: Die Laaste Tango (Afrikaans) - also director
  • 2013: The ballad of Robbie de Wee (Afrikaans)
  • 2017: Jagveld (Afrikaans)

Awards

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ a b Deon Meyer - A special at Aufbau Verlag .
  2. ↑ Julika Griem: hunger for murder. Culinary booms in crime fiction . In: Journal for Cultural Studies . Volume 6, Issue 1, May 2012, pp. 83-96. Access via De Gruyter Online .
  3. ↑ Patrick Anderson: Spy vs. Spy in the Veld . In: The Washington Post, July 19, 2004.
  4. ↑ IMDb.com
  5. ↑ Torsten Zarges: Daring series adventure at the Cape of Good Hope. In: dwdl.de. July 23, 2015, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Kaspar Heinrich: We only had articles about the author and producer from Cape Town , Annette Reeker . In: Die Zeit , July 3, 2016, accessed on March 8, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Meyer, Deon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African writer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Paarl , Cape Province