​​About VER[r]AS

The Department of Afrikaans and Dutch student committee (formerly known as 'ASK' – Afrikaans Study Circle) is known as 'VER[r]AS' – the Society for Afrikaans Students. VER[r]AS is managed by a student committee and usually consists of undergraduate students with Afrikaans and Dutch as subject. Through the course of the year the committee organizes various events for fellow-students dealing with particular Afrikaans-related related, for instance Afrikaans film evenings, poetry evenings and even quiz and games evenings.

One of the VER[r]AS Committee's most important activities is compiling the annual student volume Penseel. Penseel is a volume with a long history in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch. It was founded by Fanie Olivier and Danie Botha in 1969/70 under protection of ASK. Since then the volume has seen publication nearly every year. Among those poets and writers who have had their work published in Penseel over the years are today well-known figures in the Afrikaans literary world – Zandra Bezuidenhout, Kerneels Breytenbach, Charles Fryer, Rachelle Greeff, Helena Gunter, Joan Hambidge, Daniel Hugo, André le Roux, Sonja Loots, Fanie Olivier, Alfred Schaffer, Etienne van Heerden and Marlene van Niekerk – to name but a few.

Today Penseel remains a student volume. All students at Stellenbosch University may submit their original Afrikaans poems or short short stories for possible publication in Penseel. The entries are reviewed by a panel, with the best contributions being published. The volume's launch usually takes place in the fourth quarter, shortly before classes end for the year. Those young poets and writers whose work appears in the volume then get the opportunity of reading their poems or short stories to an audience.

For more information on the VER[r]AS committee or Penseel, or for any enquiries, email penseel@sun.ac.za.