Poems: Finis Meermin CV at Litnet Grosvenor House painting by Hérine Fourie | Posbus 675 Stellenbosch 7599 |
Lina Spies was was born on 6 March 1939 in Harrismith, Orange Free State, where
she attended school. Her father, J. F. Spies, an author of children's verses and school anthems, was headmaster of the
Primary School. When she was three years old, the family moved to Stellenbosch, where her father wanted to continue his studies.
Lina studied at Stellenbosch University and obtained a Masters degree with a
thesis on the poet Elisabeth Eybers in 1963 ( Die bewerende en beeldende vers in die poësie van Elisabeth Eybers). From 1968 - 1970 she studied
Netherlandics at the Free University of Amsterdam, where she wrote a DrsLitt
thesis on Nijhoff and his sonnet cyclus, Voor dag en dauw. In March 1982 she obtained a D Litt at the University of Pretoria, with a
thesis on D. J. Opperman (Weefsel en web: Heilige beeste, Negester oor Ninevé en Komas uit 'n bamboesstok van DJ Opperman binne die verband van sy oeuvre. Promoter: A.P. Grové).
Lina Spies lectured at the Universities of Port Elizabeth, Stellenbosch and
Pretoria. In March 2006 she was elected a member of Stellenbosch University
Council.
Hobbies: Music and - "I love all animals. But I ADORE cats. I have two: Toesj, an Abyssinian and Siamese cross and Tonya, a Russian Blue."
Quote: Indeed, poetry has taught me to master myself, pull myself together, see things clearly; poetry has made something of me, in the most practical sense of the term.
Cesare Pavese
Winterhawe, 1973
Dagreis, 1976
Ontmoetings, Tafelberg, 1979
Oorstaanson, 1982
Van sjofar tot sjalom, 1987
Die skaduwee van die son, 1988
Hiermaals, 1992
Kolonnade, 1992
Majesteit die kat, Verhale en gedigte oor katte byeengebring deur Lina Spies,
Queillerie, 1998
Sy sien webbe roer, 'n keuse uit die werk van Afrikaanse digteresse (compiler),
Human & Rousseau, 1999
Duskant die einders, Human & Rousseau, 2004
Translation of Anne Frank's Diary: Die agterhuis, 2008
Lina Spies, Die skyn van tuiskoms - 'n Keur (Poetry - a selection from her work made by Johann de Lange), Human & Rousseau, 2010
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Information provided by Lina Spies, October 2001/03
www.StellenboschWriters.com © Rosemarie Breuer