Stephen_Gray_(writer)

Stephen Gray (writer)

Stephen Gray (writer)

South African writer (1941–2020)


Stephen Gray (30 November 1941 – 22 October 2020) was a South African writer and critic.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Career

Gray was born in Cape Town on 30 November 1941. He studied at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown,[1] and later at the University of Cape Town, Cambridge University, England (where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Arts, both in English),[citation needed] and the University of Iowa, US (where he studied a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing[citation needed]). He was also awarded a D. Litt and d. Phil. by Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg in 1978.[citation needed] Until 1992, he was Professor of English at the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg.

Gray was a prolific poet and published eight novels. Recurrent themes include attitudes to homosexuality and the many rewritings of history in South Africa, including examining attitudes to class and race.[citation needed] His literary journalism appeared in the South African weekly newspaper, the Mail & Guardian, from the 1990s to the 2010s.[2] He also wrote for the theatre and edited collections of work by Athol Fugard and Herman Charles Bosman.

Gray died on 22 October 2020 in Johannesburg at the age of 78.[3]

Published works

[Note: Gray has been published in many countries by various publishers in other editions. consult ISBN in WorldCat and other sources for multiple editions.]

Novels and short stories

  • Local Colour. Ravan Press, 1975. ISBN 0-86975-046-1
  • Visible People. R. Collings, 1977. ISBN 0-86036-046-6.
  • Caltrop's Desire. Africa Book Centre, 1980. ISBN 0-86036-108-X.
  • Time of our Darkness. Arrow, 1988. ISBN 0-09-965670-1.
  • Born of Man. Gay Men's Press, 1989. ISBN 0-85449-107-4.
  • War Child. Serif, 1994. ISBN 1-897959-01-X.
  • My Serial Killer and other Short Stories. Jacana Media, 2005. ISBN 1-77009-030-4

Plays

Poetry

As editor

Other

  • Southern African Literature: An Introduction. Barnes & Noble Imports, 1979. ISBN 0-06-492530-7.
  • John Ross: The True Story. 1987.
  • Human Interest and Other Pieces. Justified Press, 1993. ISBN 0-947451-23-4.
  • Accident of Birth: An Autobiography. COSAW Publishing, 1993. ISBN 1-874879-23-0.
  • Free-lancers and Literary Biography in South Africa. Editions Rodopi BV, 1999. ISBN 90-420-0656-0.
  • Life Sentence: A Biography of Herman Charles Bosman. Human & Rousseau, 2005. ISBN 0-7981-4484-X.

References

  1. Poland 2008, p. 306.
  2. "Obituary: Literary allrounder Stephen Gray was a scholar, critic, novelist and poet". The Mail & Guardian. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. "Man of letters Stephen Gray dies at 78". New Frame. Retrieved 23 October 2020.

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