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www.thevillagenews.co.za
26 August 2020
Chanette Paul - Stanford’s unstoppable author Writer Hardus Botha
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n most of my books, and especially in the Vywervrou trilogy, I focus on the different forms of emotional and physical violence perpetrated against women,” says Chanette Paul, the well-known and beloved writer of Afrikaans books who lives in Stanford. As the prolific author of more than 40 books, Chanette enjoys exploring themes such as gender, sexuality, and the empowerment of women in her work. “I think the idea of Women's Month is wonderful and necessary but I am not sure if it is that effective,” she says. “It feels as if ‘the converters are preaching to the converted’ and
those who should have heard the message keep on doing what they are doing.” The sad part, the part she doesn’t understand, says Chanette, is that men who abuse women must have had mothers. “Why did they not learn respect for women at their mothers’ knee?” The main characters in her books fight individually and collectively against mental, emotional and physical violence against women and children, because such behaviour is unacceptable. “I do not have all the answers, but no man has the right to be violent towards a woman or a child,” she says firmly. Chanette says the outbreak of Covid-19 had a huge impact on her current book, which she started writing at the beginning of the year. “I didn’t really want to write about this virus as the global effect it’s had is bad enough, but as the story is set in 2020 I had no alternative but to include the ways in which the pandemic has changed our lives.” However, there was also a positive side to the lockdown for Chanette, as she says it brought her and her longtime partner, Ernie Blommaert, closer together. “Before the lockdown we were both so busy working and rushing around. When everything came to a standstill and we were ‘forced’ to stay together in one place it gave us the opportunity to get to know, and appreciate, each other all
over again.” Chanette and ‘Blom’, as she calls Ernie, are now closer than ever before. During her childhood, Chanette lived in seven provinces and attended nine different schools; after matriculating she studied at five universities and obtained several degrees, including a Masters in Afrikaans and Netherlandic Literature, and a Masters in Creative Writing. She wrote her first ‘paid’ story at the age of 16 for a popular children’s program on the radio called Siembamba, and her second was a short story she wrote as an undergraduate student and which was published in Huisgenoot. Since then she has written dozens of books (with no end in sight!) and won countless prizes and accolades. Her captivating stories driven by strong female characters are real page-turners that expertly weave elements of crime, romance and family drama together.
Chanette Paul, the prolific author of more than 40 books, enjoys living in the peaceful village of Stanford on the banks of the Klein River with the man in her life, Ernie (Blom) Blommaert.
Offerlam was her first book to be translated into English and debut in the US as Sacrificed in 2017. She is hoping that the follow-up, Offerande, will also be translated into English (both have been translated into Dutch).
SA list of rankings for Afrikaans books with the highest income earned in the first half of 2020, Chanette placed first, tenth and eighteenth. This was for her Vywervrou trilogy: Corali (1st), Mirre (10th), and Lira (18th). “She is the only writer with more than one book on the list,” said Nielsen’s representative. The news came as a big surprise for Chanette, who says she never expected anything like this. “You could have knocked me over with a feather!” she says.
In the meantime, Chanette’s Afrikaans books continue their best-selling streak. On the Nielsen BookScan
After the restlessness of her childhood years and the upheavals and challenges of early adulthood, Cha-
nette says she loves the peace and quiet of her little house on the banks of the Klein River flowing through Stanford. It is also here that Ernie operates his River Rat boat cruises and canoe hire. Other places where the couple enjoys spending time and where Chanette can work on her fiction undisturbed are Struisbaai and Agulhas. Being surrounded by the serenity of nature inspires her to create a seemingly endless range of new, interesting characters and to think up new plotlines for her books. May the well of her creativity never run dry!