Article
Opperman, Diederik Johannes (1914–1985) By du Plooy, Heilna
DOI: 10.4324/9781135000356-REM1875-1
Published: 26/04/2018
Retrieved: 27 April 2024, from
https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/opperman-diederik-johannes-1914-1985
Article
Dirk Opperman is known as a poet whose poetry is deeply concerned with Africa as a physical and symbolic space. As a dominant poetic figure from the late 1940s until his death, he exerted great influence in the sphere of Afrikaans literature as advisor on new manuscripts for publishers and as editor of comprehensive, canonizing collections of poetry. He also exerted great influence on young poets for whom he provided training in his so-called ‘literary laboratory’ in Stellenbosch.
