BIO

Tom Dreyer is a South African novelist and poet writing in both Afrikaans and English. His novels include Erdvarkfontein, Stinkafrikaners, Equatoria, The Long Wave and Dorado. He has won or been shortlisted for several prestigious South African literary awards. His latest novel, The Long Wave, was longlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Award, and (in Afrikaans translation) shortlisted for the University of Johannesburg Prize and the KykNet/Rapport Film Prize.

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Tom holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town. He is a fellow of the University of Iowa's International Writing Program, and has been writer-in-residence at universities and institutes across the world.

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MEDIA

AUTHOR'S PROFILE

I WISH I'D SAID

BOOK LAUNCH

THE LONG WAVE / DORADO

BOOKS

ERDVARKFONTEIN

STINKAFRIKANERS

EQUATORIA

IN THE PRESS

PRAISE FOR THE LONG WAVE / DORADO

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"Dreyer has developed his own personal mythology which makes his work not only very recognisable but also strikingly original."

LUC RENDERS

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"Van die agterpaaie van die Karoo tot in die agterstrate van Kuilsrivier lees Dorado asof David Lynch en Wim Wenders saam 'n road movie hier kom skiet het. Tom Dreyer ken die taal wat teerpad praat."

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"From the backroads of the Karoo to the streets of Kuils River, [The Long Wave] reads as though David Lynch and Wim Wenders came here and shot a road movie together."

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"Die boek het wonderlike filmiese elemente en die forlorn karakters is die tipe ouens wat ek graag op 'n road trip in die Karoo sal wil raakloop Dorado is 'n boeiende boek wat 'n mens nie sommer los nie."

WILLEM ANKER

WILLEM ANKER

ERNS GRUNDLINGH

PRAISE FOR EQUATORIA

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"Intelligent, multi-layered, and absorbing, Equatoria is an African quest you want to read again and again."

DEON MEYER

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"A spellbinding tale, written in eloquent prose: passionate, comic, and always deeply moving."

MARGARETE LAMB-FAFFELBERGER

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"Achingly beautiful prose creates a fever dream of our own dark nature."

JOHN STRALEY, WRITER LAUREATE OF ALASKA

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"A poetic and thought-provoking meditation on discovery and loss"

PETER WHITTAKER, NEW INTERNATIONALIST

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AWARDS

1998 MNET BURSARY FOR CREATIVE WRITING

2001 STINKAFRIKANERS AWARDED THE EUGENE MARAIS PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

2004 WINNER OF SABC SCRIPT WRITING COMPETITION FOR SPEKBOOM ALL STARS

2006 EQUATORIA SHORTLISTED FOR MNET LITERARY PRIZE

2017 THE LONG WAVE LONGLISTED FOR SUNDAY TIMES LITERARY PRIZE

2017 DORADO SHORTLISTED FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG PRIZE

2017 DORADO SHORTLISTED FOR KYKNET/RAPPORT FILM PRIZE

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2019 WINNER OF THE AVBOB PRIZE FOR AFRIKAANS POETRY

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2021 THE LONG WAVE - SEMI-FINALIST IN SCREENCRAFT INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC NOVEL COMPETITION

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PRAISE FOR STINKAFRIKANERS & ERDVARKFONTEIN

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"n Man wat kén van struktureer en van los drade vasvat en vernuftige speletjies met die leser speel."

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"A backbone of consistent and striking metaphors, mixed with a wry humour."

HANS PIENAAR

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"Oom Schalk Lourens op amfetamien."

BARRY RONGE

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ANDRE P BRINK

RESIDENCIES

2007  INTERNATIONAL WRITING PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

2007  WRITER IN RESIDENCE AT SITKA ISLAND INSTITUTE IN ALASKA

2008  CHATEAU DE LAVIGNY INTERNATIONAL WRITERS RESIDENCE IN LAVIGNY, SWITZERLAND

2009  INTERNATIONAL WRITERS AND TRANSLATORS CENTER IN RHODES, GREECE

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2010  LEDIG HOUSE RESIDENCY IN HUDSON, NEW YORK 

2014 WRITER IN RESIDENCE AT VERMONT STUDIO CENTER