Library Weekly

On 29 September 1914, Afrikaans poet Diederik (or Dirk) Johannes Opperman, commonly referred to as D.J. Opperman was born in Dundee, South Africa. He is considered to be one of the best known Afrikaans poets of the twentieth century.

D.J. Opperman he grew up in Dundee, Natal. He went to school in the towns of Estcourt and Vryheid, and afterwards received an M.A. degree from the University of Natal. He taught at schools in Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg, and later on became editor of 'Die Huisgenoot'. In 1949 he became a lecturer at the University of Cape Town. During this period he completed one of his most important publications – 'Digters van Dertig' (Poets of the thirties) – in 1953.

Opperman won the prestigious Hertzog prize for poetry in 1947 for his collection 'Heilige beeste' ("Holy cattle"). From 1960 to 1975 he was a professor of Afrikaans at Stellenbosch University, where he also served on the editorial board of the publication 'Standpunte' ("Points of View"). D.J. Opperman died in 1985 in Stellenbosch at the age of 70.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Selected publications

Publications by D.J. Opperman

Sonklong oor Afrika : faksimilee, transkripsie en konstruksie van 'n bundel verse-in-wording / Dirk Opperman; J.C. Kannemeyer. - Kaapstad : Tafelberg, 2000

Skakering / Diederik Johannes Opperman; G. H. J. Coetzee. - Kaapstad : Tafelberg, 1985

Verspreide opstelle / Dirk Opperman; J.C. Kannemeyer.- Kaapstad [etc.] : Human & Rousseau, 1977

Periandros van Korinthe / Dirk Opperman; J.P.J. Rensburg. - Kaapstad, 1975

Negester oor Ninevé / Dirk Opperman. - Kaapstad [etc.] : Nasionale Boekhandel Beperk, 1958

Heilige beeste / Dirk Opperman. Kaapstad : Nasionale Pers, 1947

Publications about D.J. Opperman and his work

DJ Opperman-gedenklesing: Opperman en die Afrikaanse literatuurkritiek (Willie Burger, 2017)

Timeline of Afrikaans-language poets via DBpedia and Wikidata