Country of My Skull

Front Cover
Vintage, 1999 - Biography & Autobiography - 454 pages
Ever since Nelson Mandela dramatically walked out of prison in 1990 after twenty-seven years behind bars, South Africa has been undergoing a radical transformation. In one of the most miraculous events of the century, the oppressive system of apartheid was dismantled. But how could this country - one of spectacular beauty and promise - come to terms with its ugly past? How could its people, whom the oppressive white government had pitted against one another, live side by side as friends and neighbors? To begin the healing process, Nelson Mandela created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by the renowned cleric Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Established in 1995, the commission faced the awesome task of hearing the testimony of the victims of apartheid as well as the oppressors. In this book, Antjie Krog, a South African journalist and poet who has covered the work of the commission, recounts the drama, the horrors, the wrenching personal stories of the victims and their families. Through the testimonies of victims of abuse and violence, from the appearance of Winnie Mandela to former South African president P.W. Botha's extraordinary courthouse press conference, this award-winning poet leads us on an amazing journey.

Other editions - View all

About the author (1999)

Antjie Krog was born in 1952 in Kroonstad, a town in the Free State province of South Africa. She has published eight volumes of poetry, several of which have been translated into European languages and have won international prizes. Reporting as Antjie Samuel, the author and her SABC radio team received the Pringle Award for excellence in journalism for reporting on the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission. Krog also won the Foreign Correspondents' Award for outstanding journalism for her articles on the Truth Commission. She went on to become parliamentary editor for SABC radio in 1997 and has since been appointed as an Extraordinary Professor in the Arts Faculty at the University of the Western Cape. Antjie Krog is married and is the mother of four children.