Zakes Mda

Zakes Mda is a South African author widely celebrated as one of the leading literary intellectuals of our time, he is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Ohio in the United States. Professor Mda has built up a remarkable roster of achievements during the past 40 or so years.

Zakes Mda is a novelist, playwright, poet, musician and painter who also works as a teacher, academic and beekeeper. He is best known for novels such as Ways of Dying (1995), Heart of Redness (2000), The Madonna of Excelsior (2002), The Whale Caller (2005) and Black Diamond (2009).

His most recent novel is titled The Sculptors of Mapungubwe (2013). His numerous awards include a Commonwealth Writers Prize, the M-Net Book Prize and the Sunday Times Fiction Award.