A collection exploring themes of doubt, despair and the search for meaning, by Afrikaans poet I.L. de Villiers, known for his direct, existential religious poetry.
First edition (Eerste druk), published by Tafelberg-Uitgewers Beperk, Kaapstad, 1976.
A collectible vintage Afrikaans hardcover, in good secondhand condition – please see photos for condition details.
Izak Louis de Villiers, who wrote as I.L. de Villiers, was a South African poet, Dutch Reformed minister and journalist, born in Paarl in 1936. After two decades in the pulpit he moved into publishing, editing the magazine Sarie from 1983 and the Sunday newspaper Rapport from 1991 to 1997. His poetry collections include Leitourgos, Leviet en vreemdeling and Jerusalem tot Johannesburg, which won the M-Net Poetry Prize, with Vervreemdeling following in 2008. Te vroeg vir moedverloor, first published in 1976, gathers the short religious essays he originally wrote as newspaper columns under the heading Woord en wêreld.
De Villiers died in September 2009 in Johannesburg. Honoured with the Andrew Murray Prize, the ATKV Prestige Prize and the DF Malan Medal, he is remembered for verse and essays that brought faith into conversation with everyday South African life.
