Elisabeth Eybers



Elisabeth Françoise Eybers (16 February 1915 – 1 December 2007) was a South African poet. Her poetry was mainly in Afrikaans, although she has translated some of her own work (and those of others) into English.

Life
Eybers was born in Klerksdorp, Transvaal. She grew up in the town of Schweizer-Reneke, where her father was a Nederduits-Hervormde (Dutch Reformed) minister. After completing her high school studies there at the age of 16, she enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand for a Bachelor of Arts degree, which she achieved cum laude.

After her graduation she became a journalist. In 1937 Eybers married the businessman Albert Wessels, with whom she had three daughters and a son.

Eybers' first collection of poems, Belydenis in die Skemering ("Confession at twilight"), was published in 1936. Her second collection, Die Stil Avontuur ("The silent adventure"), was published in 1939 and was mainly about being a mother. She is counted among the Dertigers, South Africans who wrote in Afrikaans beginning in the 1930s.

Translations of her poems have also been published in German, French, Italian and Hebrew.

From her divorce in 1961 until her death, she lived in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and was buried at Zorgvlied cemetery.

Recognition
Eybers became the first Afrikaans woman to win the Hertzog Prize for poetry in 1934. She won the prize again in 1971. Her work has received many other awards in both South Africa and the Netherlands, including the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 1978 and the P.C. Hooft Award in 1991.

The South African composer Cromwell Everson composed a song using Eybers' poem "Die Vreemde Dae".

Publications

 * Belydenis in die Skemering ("Confession at twilight"), 1936.
 * Die Stil Avontuur ("The silent adventure"), 1939.
 * Die Vrou en ander verse' (The woman and other poems), 1945
 * Die Ander Dors (The other thirst), 1946
 * Tussensang (In-between song), 1950
 * Helder Halfjaar (Bright half-year), 1956
 * Versamelde Gedigte (Collected poems), 1957
 * Neerslag (Precipitation), 1958
 * Balans (Balance), 1962
 * Onderdak (Under shelter), 1965
 * Kruis of Munt (Head or tail), 1973
 * Verbruikersverse /Consumer's verse (bilingual), 1997.
 * Winter-surplus, 1999.