Dr Alfred Schaffer, a celebrated poet and a lecturer at Stellenbosch University (SU), was recently awarded the prestigious 2021 Herman de Coninck Prize for his collection of poetry called Wie was ik (“Who was I").
This annual literature prize, in memory of the Flemish poet, essayist and journalist Herman de Coninck (1944–1997), is intended for the best poetry collection of the year.
“It is a great honour, and a wonderful surprise. The laudation of the jury shows that they really connected with the poetry and with the intention of the poems," said Schaffer.
He said of his work: “I tried to write about memory and memorising the past, and the failure of reliving and re-imagining that which is forever lost. I took my mother, born on the Caribbean island of Aruba, one of the Dutch Antilles, as the protagonist. It is more or less an appropriation, my interpretation of her experiences.
“My mother came to the Netherlands, as so many young women did in the fifties, to work as a nurse, and I tried to re-imagine her life as a black woman in a mainly white country at that time. Obviously, I remember some stories, but a lot of it is blurred and unverifiable. She passed away just after I turned 18. My sister drowned when she was very little, and my Dutch father passed away 16 years ago, so there is a huge void when it comes to understanding my own history. I hope the reader is able to see the broader context of migration, memory and history."
He added wistfully: “It is hopelessly sentimental I know, but I cannot help thinking: 'I hope my parents and my sister somehow see this, see what has happened to Wie was ik'."
Schaffer, who is known as one of the most talented Dutch poets of his generation, also became the youngest recipient of the PC Hooft prize, the most prestigious Dutch literary award, when he was announced the 2021 laureate.
Over the years, Schaffer has published numerous poetry and prose collections. These include Zijn opkomst in de voorstad (His Rise in the Suburbs; 2000); Dwaalgasten (Vagrants; 2002), which was nominated for the prestigious VSB poetry prize; Geen hand voor ogen (No Hands Before Your Eyes), Schuim (Foam; 2006); and Kooi (Cage; 2008). Over the years, his work has also been translated into Afrikaans, English, French, German, Macedonian, Turkish, Indonesian and Swedish.
He has also received the prestigious Jo Peters poetry prize, Hugues C Pernath prize, the Ida Gerhardt poetry prize and the Jan Campert prize for his work.
“At the moment, as I tried to depict in my last three books, I am drawn to the idea of poetry as a fragmented story – fragmented, but a narration nonetheless, more than just a collection of individual poems," said Schaffer.
Schaffer grew up in The Hague, Netherlands − the son of an Aruban mother and a Dutch father. He studied Dutch Language and Literature, as well as Film and Theatre Sciences in Leiden, Netherlands. In 1996 he moved to Cape Town to continue his postgraduate studies at the University of Cape Town.
He returned to the Netherlands in 2005 where he worked as an editor in Dutch publishing before moving back to South Africa in 2011. He currently works as a lecturer in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch at SU.
Apart from producing his own poetry and prose, Schaffer has also made an important contribution to South African literature over the years by bringing local poetry to a broader audience through the translation into Dutch of, among others, Antjie Krog, Ronelda Kamfer and Koleka Putuma's work.
