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  1. Home
  2. Author
  3. Bessie Head
Back to Browse
5 works

Bessie Head

Southern AfricaContemporaryPost-colonialFictionNon-fiction
When Rain Clouds Gather
1968
Bessie Head

The story of Makhaya, a South African political refugee who flees to rural Botswana and becomes involved in agricultural development projects.

Southern AfricaFiction
Maru
1971
Bessie Head

A novel exploring themes of tribalism, racism, and love through the story of Margaret Cadmore, an orphaned Masarwa (Bushman) woman who becomes a teacher.

Southern AfricaFiction
Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind
1981
Bessie Head

An oral history of Serowe, Botswana's largest village, assembled from interviews spanning three generations from the reforming chief Khama III to the cooperative movement of the 1960s. Head reveals an Africa that endures and self-organizes.

Southern AfricaNon-fiction
The Collector of Treasures
1977
Bessie Head

Thirteen short stories drawing on Botswana village life, women who endure violence, men who abdicate, and communities that hold together through traditional values and collective memory, illuminating ordinary lives with extraordinary dignity.

Southern AfricaFiction
A Question of Power
1974
Bessie Head

Semi-autobiographical novel following Elizabeth, a South African exile in Botswana, through a descent into psychosis. Head navigates racism, exile, gender, and spiritual suffering with extraordinary intensity.

Southern AfricaFiction