Brink’s legacy lives on in G’town
Home to treasury of his works
FOLLOWING Andre P Brink’s untimely death last month on a flight between Europe and South Africa, tributes poured in for the world-renowned and respected academic, novelist, dramatist and author of several academic publications.
Brink had a long association with Rhodes University in Grahamstown, having been a staff member of the Department of Afrikaans and Nederlands for almost 30 years, the last 10 as head of the department.
The author of, inter alia, English and Afrikaans novels, including the oncebanned Kennis van die Aand, and many literary works, Brink left Rhodes and Grahamstown in 1990 when he was appointed professor in the Department of English at the University of Cape Town.
Over the decades, Brink, who was 79 years old at the time his death, was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes.
Many Grahamstown residents remember the double-storey dwelling on the corner of George and Market Streets on the southern side of town that Brink owned and lived in for many years.
Today the residence serves as a busy guest house and restaurant.
Having been away from Grahamstown since 1990, one could well have been under the impression that Brink was something of a forgotten figure in this city.
But Brink’s legacy will continue to live on in the form of a massive donation of books and novels, type-written English and Afrikaans manuscripts and photographs and letters to the Grahams townbased National English Literary Museum (Nelm).
The museum has its offices and extensive storage areas in three separate buildings in Beaufort Street, one of them a former school hostel. Nelm’s manager of the curatorial division, Crystal Warren, explained to TotT that Brink had made the donation to the museum over a number of years.
She said Nelm had a large collection of literary papers and manuscripts, as well as published creative works and a reference collection of criticism.
Warren told TotT: “This collection includes a large amount of material donated by Andre Brink over a number of years.
“The Brink collection includes drafts of novels, play scripts and screenplays, correspondence, reviews, notes, lectures and translations. In addition there are translations of Brink’s works into foreign languages, and theses written on his work by scholars from around the world.”
Besides the material donated by Brink himself (about 500 items), Nelm holds a full collection of his published books in English, as well as critical articles from academic journals and books, theses and press clippings.
The new National English Literary Museum complex in Worcester Street is expected to be completed in March next year.