Cousins

by Athol Fugard

A remarkable memoir of Fugard's coming of age as a writer.



In Cousins, South African playwright Athol Fugard has written one of his most moving and personal works. Illustrated with numerous family photographs, this deceptively simple memoir examines the author's life from his earliest childhood memories through his days as an accomplished playwright. The story of his relationship with his two male cousins provides young Fugard with the grist for what was to become an art steeped in the history and turmoil of South Africa under apartheid. The result is a unique look at one of the world's greatest playwrights and the interior landscape of a literary artist's mind.

Genres: Plays

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Athol Fugard was a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. Acclaimed in 1985 as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaking world" by Time, he published more than thirty plays. He was best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apartheid, some of which have been adapted to film. His novel Tsotsi was adapted as a film of the same name, which won an Academy Award in 2005. It was directed by Gavin Hood.
Fugard also served as an adjunct professor of playwriting, acting and directing in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of California, San Diego.
Fugard received many awards, honours, and honorary degrees, including the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver from the government of South Africa in 2005 "for his excellent contribution and achievements in the theatre". He was also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Fugard was honoured in Cape Town with the opening in 2010 of the Fugard Theatre in District Six. He received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2011.

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book that gives a different and intriguing perspective of a master and legend.