The following entries have all been abstracted from Bessie
Head — Thunder Behind Her Ears by Gillian Stead Eilersen (1995):
|
| 1937 July 6 |
Bessie Amelia Emery born in Pietermaritzburg city hospital, Natal, in the then Union of South Africa. Her mother a patient in the Fort Napier Mental Hospital nearby. |
| 1937 August |
is put into foster care with the "coloured" Heathcote
family |
| 1948 |
Nationalist Party wins S. African election, initiates apartheid shortly
thereafter |
| 1950 January 23 |
Bessie is moved to St Monica's Home, an Anglican boarding school for
"coloured girls" near Durban |
| 1951 |
writes a parable, "The Stepping Stones of Truth" |
| 1951 December 19 |
is taken to court, informed that her real mother was a white
woman, and forbidden to go to the Heathcote's for Christmas |
| 1953 |
passes Junior Certificate exam, chooses teacher training |
| 1955 |
finishes 2-year teacher training course |
| 1956-1958 |
teaches primary school in Durban |
| 1958 July |
turns 21; leaves Durban for Cape Town |
| 1958 August |
is hired as only woman reporter for Golden City Post,
lives in District Six |
| 1959 April |
Robert Sobukwe founds Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) |
| 1959 April |
Bessie moves to Johannesburg, continues to write for Drum publications,
meets many leading figures |
| 1960 March |
joins PAC, meets Sobukwe; Sharpeville Massacre occurs |
| 1960 April |
arrested for PAC ties, turns state witness, tries to commit
suicide |
| 1960 May |
spends time in hospital, returns to Cape Town |
| mid-1960 - mid 1961 |
often unemployed, publishes own newspaper, The Citizen;
meets Harold Head |
| 1961 September 1 |
marries Harold Head; the couple live in District Six |
| 1962 |
Bessie and Harold write for The New African; Bessie finishes
The Cardinals |
| 1962 May 15 |
son Howard Head is born |
| 1962 August |
Nelson Mandela, leader of armed resistance, is arrested |
| 1962 September |
Heads move to Port Elizabeth |
| 1963 Oct-Nov |
Heads again live in Cape Town |
| 1963 November |
Bessie leaves Harold, takes Howard to Pretoria |
| 1964 February |
is denied a passport to travel outside S. Africa |
| 1964 March |
accepts teaching job in Serowe, Bechuanaland Protectorate; leaves
South Africa forever, with her son, on an exit visa |
| 1964-1965 |
teaches at Tshekedi Memorial School in Serowe; meets Lenyeletse
Seretse and Patrick van Rensburg, who help her |
| 1966 Jan-Sept |
spends 5 months at Bamangwato Development Farm at Radisele;
2 months as typist in Palapye; moves to Francistown refugee camp; sells first
important story to the New Statesman |
| 1966 September 30 |
Botswana becomes independent |
| 1967-1968 |
Bessie lives in Francistown, writes When Rain Clouds Gather |
| 1969 January |
receives advance copies of Rain Clouds; moves back to
Serowe |
| 1969 March-May |
first schizophrenic episode; Rain Clouds is published
to good reviews in London and New York |
| 1969 Oct-Nov |
builds and moves into new house; joins Boiteko self-help group
as gardening leader |
| 1970 |
writes Maru |
| 1971 February |
publishes Maru to favourable reviews |
| 1971 March-June |
mental breakdown, hospitalisation at Lobatse Mental Hospital |
| 1971 August |
begins writing A Question of Power |
| 1972 April |
finishes A Question of Power; it first fails to find
a publisher; she corresponds with Robert Sobukwe |
| 1973 September |
meets poet Nikki Giovanni in Gaborone |
| 1973 October |
A Question of Power is published to mixed reviews; Village
of the Rain Wind is begun |
| 1974 Feb-May |
accepts and then rejects offer of asylum and citizenship in
Norway |
| 1974 May |
Village of the Rain Wind completed |
| 1974 December |
The Collector of Treasures completed |
| 1975 |
gives talks and seminars in Botswana, quarrels with publishers |
| 1976 June |
Soweto uprising begins |
| 1976 December |
first major interview for overseas media, London Magazine
and the BBC |
| 1977 Aug-Dec |
attends International Writing Program at the University of Iowa,
USA; makes many literary contacts; is a celebrity abroad |
| 1977 October |
application for Botswana citizenship is rejected |
| 1978 February |
Robert Sobukwe dies; Bessie writes emotional short story in
tribute |
| 1979 January |
Village of the Rain Wind at last accepted for publication |
| 1979 February 12 |
is granted Botswana citizenship without requesting it |
| 1979 June |
participates in Berlin International Literature Days, Germany |
| 1980 |
lives in Gaborone, works on A Bewitched Crossroad |
| 1980 Nov-Dec |
with Howard, attends literary celebration in Copenhagen, Denmark,
and visits friends in the UK |
| 1981 May |
attends literary celebration in Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| 1981 June |
Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind is published to good
reviews |
| 1982 May |
Howard leaves for further education in Canada |
| 1982 June |
attends literary conference at the University of Calabar, Nigeria |
| 1982 October |
participates in Writers' Workshop in Gaborone |
| 1983 |
works on A Bewitched Crossroad |
| 1984 January |
finishes A Bewitched Crossroad |
| 1984 Feb-March |
attends Adelaide Festival of Arts, Australia; receives an especially
positive response |
| 1984 May |
agrees to write an autobiography; Heinemann promises her an
advance against future royalties |
| 1984 October |
Howard Head returns to Serowe from Canada |
| 1984 October 31 |
A Bewitched Crossroad is published, in Johannesburg only,
and thus receives few reviews |
| 1985 April |
"Why Do I Write?" is prepared for Libération
and Mmegi |
| 1985 August |
Harold Head begins divorce proceedings, 22 years after her separation
|
| 1986 January |
Bessie has quarrel with Howard, insists that he leave her house |
| 1986 February |
Harold's application for divorce is granted |
| 1986 March |
drinks heavily now, brandy and gin as well as beer |
| 1986 April 17 |
dies in Sekgoma Memorial Hospital, Serowe, Botswana |
| |
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|
Bessie Amelia Head never knew her real parents: an unstable white woman and an unknown black man. She was born and raised in apartheid South Africa. There she suffered from poverty, racial segregation, and gender discrimination. She also had to worry about her own "delicate nervous balance".
As a young woman she left South Africa to come to Botswana. She lived the rest of her life in this country, mostly in Serowe. Bit by bit she overcame her many formidable obstacles. One of her passions was letter-writing; she corresponded with hundreds of people from many countries during her life. At the end she was a famous writer known all around the world. This is her story. (Continued below)
