Heidi Holland
| Heidi Holland | |
|---|---|
| Born | Southern Rhodesia |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Occupation | Journalist, Author |
| Notable credit(s) | Author of Dinner with Mugabe Freelance writer for The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, International Herald Tribune, The New York Times and The Guardian. Author of The Colour of Murder |
Heidi Holland is a South Africa–based Zimbabwean journalist and author who has been involved in the journalism industry for over 30 years. She has worked as a freelancer writer on publications such as The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, International Herald Tribune, The New York Times and The Guardian and has also worked on research projects for British television documentaries. She is the author of various book such as the recent Dinner with Mugabe an account of her meetings with Robert Mugabe. Previously she released The Colour of Murder, a South African–based book on the Van Schoor family and the murder trials its members faced. She has also released a book based on the history of South Africa's ruling-party The Struggle:A History of the African National Congress.
Contents |
[edit] Journalism
As well as freelancing for a number of international titles, Holland is a columnist for The Star, a South African tabloid newspaper.[1][2]
[edit] Books
[edit] Dinner with Mugabe
The title Dinner with Mugabe relates to an encounter between Holland and Mugabe in 1975 when a friend brought him to her house for a secret dinner as he was about to flee the country to wage a guerrilla war. Yet Holland was significant as a white journalist to have secured a 2½-hour interview with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in December 2007. It took 18 months to secure the interview. In the book Holland explores the transformation of the man she met in 1975 with his present state. She also looks at his relationships with those such as his first wife, Sally, Lord Soames, Rhodesia's last British governor; Denis Norman, a white farmer who held several portfolios in his early governments as well as with the former Rhodesian Premier Ian Smith. She also questions the president on controversial issues such as Gukurahundi and land reform in Zimbabwe. Several excerpts of the book have appeared in the international press and it is published by Penguin South Africa.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
[edit] The Colour of Murder
In 2006, Holland released a South Africa–based true crime investigation of racism and violence in The Colour of Murder: One family's horror exposes a nation's anguish . In the book she explores the controversial family dynamics and racial politics of the Van Schoor family, a white South African family. She focuses on the patriarch Louis Van Schoor,a former East London security guard who is alleged to have shot over a hundred black people during apartheid. Then there is his daughter Sabrina Van Schoor, who made friends in the coloured community (to her parents disapproval) as a child and later gave birth to a coloured child, Tatum. in 2001 she ordered a hitman to kill her mother, Beverley on the grounds that she was a racist. She won many awards for this masterpiece, including a Pulitzer award.[10][11]
[edit] African Magic
In 2001, Penguin published Africa Magic: Traditional Ideas That Heal a Continent. The book is an exploration of Sub Saharan Africa's natural philosophies looking at ways healers have used traditional belief systems to deal with things such as medical and marital issues.[12]
[edit] Born in Soweto
In 1994, Penguin published Born in Soweto: Inside the Heart of South Africa. The book focusses on a description of life told my Soweto's residents. It is also illustrated.[13]
[edit] The Struggle
The Struggle:A History of the African National Congress was released by George Braziller publishing company in April 1990. Holland explores the peaceful and violent protestations of the political party against racial discrimnation. She also looks at the communist ties of the party as well as the roots of apartheid ideology. The book received favourable reviews, with The New York Times citing it as a 'concise' and 'informative' history of the political party.[14]
[edit] Controversy
In May 2009, Holland was embroiled in a row with the leader of South Africa's largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. Holland criticized personal comments made by Zille about Jacob Zuma in the article 'A disservice to white citizens' published by The Star on 21 May 2009. Holland expressed that Zille's comments reflected badly on the white South African community. On 27 May 2009, the newspaper published Zille's reply. Zille accused Holland of a "warped logic" concerning race issues.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Heidi Holland The Star
- ^ a b An outstanding example of racist thinking - Helen Zille Politicsweb. 28 May 2009
- ^ The Economist 19 March 2008 "The making of a monster". The Economist. 19 March 2008. http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10875586.
- ^ The Guardian 23 March 2008 "Face to face with a lonely tyrant bent on vengeance". The Guardian (London). 23 March 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/23/zimbabwe1. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ The Washington Post 14 March 2008 Timberg, Craig (14 March 2008). "In His Own World of Denial". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031304286.html. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ The Daily Telegraph 01 July 2008 Holland, Heidi (28 June 2008). "Zimbabwe: What makes monster Robert Mugabe tick?". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/profiles/2213974/Zimbabwe-What-makes-monster-Robert-Mugabe-tick.html. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ The Sunday Times (South Africa) 01 March 2008 "The angry little boy who showed them all". http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Insight/Article.aspx?id=717837.
- ^ The Independent 24 June 2008 "Young Mugabe: The making of a despot". The Independent (London). 24 June 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/features/young-mugabe-the-making-of-a-despot-852789.html. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ The Guardian05 April 2008 Holland, Heidi (5 April 2008). "'We still love the royal family'". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/05/zimbabwe. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ The Citizen 14 September 2006 "Family dynamics". http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=24070,1,22.
- ^ The Guardian 24 October 2004 Holland, Heidi (23 October 2004). "Blood ties". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/oct/23/southafrica.weekend7. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ Holland, Heidi (2001). Africa Magic: Traditional Ideas That Heal a Continent. Penguin.
- ^ Holland, Heidi (1994). Born in Soweto: Inside the Heart of South Africa. Penguin.
- ^ The New York Times 18 March 1990 Suzman, Stephen (18 March 1990). "Mandela's Party". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFD61330F93BA25750C0A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
[edit] Audio and video
- "Heidi Holland speaks to Robert Mugabe". London: The Guardian. 2000-09-23. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2008/mar/26/robert.mugabe.heidi.holland?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- "Isabel Hilton talks to Heidi Holland". BBC. 2008-06-03. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/nightwaves/pip/51wdx/.
- "Heidi Holland reads from Dinner With Mugabe". Youtube. 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DypHltNlTWM.
