Internationally acclaimed South African writer and human rights activist Antjie Krog will present two events at Rhodes College in November. On Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. in Blount Auditorium of Buckman Hall, she will give a lecture titled “Truth vs. Revenge: The Case of South Africa's Post-Apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission." On Nov. 16 at 6 p.m., in Frazier Jelke A, she will present "A Poetry Reading: Color Never Exists Alone." Both events are free and open to the public.

In the late 1990's, Krog worked as a radio journalist for the South African Broadcasting Corporation and reported on the groundbreaking hearings of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) held from 1996 to 1998.

The TRC was a court-like body assembled after apartheid was abolished. Nelson Mandela, then president of South Africa, appointed Archbishop Desmond Tutu as the chair.

Krog's 1998 book Country of My Skull describes the dynamics between the victims and perpetrators as well as related issues of human rights, trauma, memory and questions of national reconciliation. Her work received numerous international awards including the Hiroshima Award for Peace and Human Rights. A 2004 motion picture "In My Country" was made from the book, starring Juliete Binoche and Samuel L. Jackson.

Krog has published 12 collections of poems with much of her poetry depicting her own private experiences within the larger context of public and political life in South Africa. Her Memphis visit is sponsored by Rhodes' Creative Writing Program, the Dean's Office, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Spence L. Wilson Chair for Humanities, African American Studies, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, the Lecture Board and the Department of Philosophy.

For more information about Krog's appearance at Rhodes, contact Professor Mark Behr at (901) 843-3979 or behrm@rhodes.edu.